Charter School News Roundup

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May 1, 2012
Charter School News Roundup

Congratulations to The STAR School in Flagstaff, one of just 8 charter schools and 78 schools nationwide to be named as 2012 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools. This first-ever award honors schools that “demonstrate compelling examples of the ways schools can help children build real-world skillsets, cut school costs, and provide healthy...
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Help Wanted – Charter High School Looks to Its Students to Help Drive Hiring Process

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May 1, 2012
Help Wanted – Charter High School Looks to Its Students to Help Drive Hiring Process

The group interview. The what-if scenarios. The psychological testing. The reference checks. The peer review. Any well-run charter school has no doubt employed at least some of these tools in its hiring process. But what about input from the school’s most important consumers? At IntelliSchool Charter High Schools, all potential job candidates must run...
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Helping Children Form Connections Through Field Trips – Part 2

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May 1, 2012
Helping Children Form Connections Through Field Trips – Part 2

Editor’s note: This is part 2 of an article on the value of field trips for students. Part 1 ran in the April issue of the Charter School Monthly.] As a charter school director for many years I encouraged my staff to take field trips. In Montessori we refer to these excursions as “going...
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Superintendent Views

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May 1, 2012
Superintendent Views

As the school year begins to wind down, it’s not too early for parents and summer school teachers to start thinking about how to engage students in reading activities throughout the summer. Research shows that the more a student reads, the more he or she becomes proficient at reading. A typical fifth-grade student who...
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Don’t Neglect the Nice Kids

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May 1, 2012
Don’t Neglect the Nice Kids

In most classrooms a teacher will be confronted by a variety of students who, if allowed, will demand virtually all of his or her time and attention. There are the undisciplined rowdies who create problems in class. These range from students who are noisy and interfere with your instruction to the troublemaker who is...
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Miracle Workers

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May 1, 2012
Miracle Workers

Because my stories and lectures tend to celebrate what is positive in life – and especially what is so wonder-filled about children, I tend to be thought of as somewhat “Pollyanna-ish” – not so! I am Polish, and I am an existentialist, but I don’t accept “Pollyanna-ish.” I have learned during all my years...
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A Year in the Life of a Charter School Director…Policy Teamwork Pays Off

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May 1, 2012
A Year in the Life of a Charter School Director…Policy Teamwork Pays Off

I want to celebrate a major milestone this month! At the beginning of the school year, my administrative team (director of finance, secondary principal, and elementary principal) met to set our team’s goals for the year. One of those goals was to revise our school policy – long overdue! I didn’t realize what we...
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Association Update

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May 1, 2012
Association Update

Starting a charter school is a rigorous process that requires a team effort, diverse skills and talents, commitment, and hard work. A gap exists between skilled teams ready to apply for a charter and aspiring leaders with the talent to build those teams. That’s why we have partnered with Teach for America and the...
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Employee Interviews and the Discrimination “Minefield”

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May 1, 2012
Employee Interviews and the Discrimination “Minefield”

The interview process is one of the best ways to gain knowledge about future employees. Typical interview questions will measure applicants’ abilities, their qualifications, and whether they have the necessary skills to be successful in your charter school organization. An interviewer must be aware that federal and state laws limit the questions that can...
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