Grow or Start your School

Creating Successful, High-Quality Charters

Every year, the League supports at least 75% of new charter school applicants with drafting, revising, and organizing their applications, and, with over 30 years of experience supporting new school development, we are the number one resource for best practices, thought leadership and essential services as you begin the process of creating a successful new Colorado public charter school.

But our efforts at providing quality educational options for students don’t stop there. Many schools are looking to provide opportunities through an expansion of an existing school by adding or expanding grade levels. Further, some schools are looking to replicate their entire model in a new area or district. These replications and expansions are a perfect opportunity to engage the League in your planning and execution.

Our resources are primarily free of charge and our team is here to guide you every step of the way. Armed with an extensive understanding of both CSI and individual district processes, we offer expert-level, one-on-one support, including detailed application review and intensive interview preparation. Teams that have leveraged this support process over the past five years have been given approval or conditional approval nearly twice as often as teams that pursue the process on their own.

Phase 1: Charter Application Review

Cost: Starts at $2,250

A team of experts will review your charter application draft, provide feedback based on your authorizer’s rubric, meet with you(r team) to discuss the feedback and offer an additional consultation meeting for further clarification or review of specific edits if/as needed. In detail, the application review will include:

Submit & League Review (10-20 Hours)

  • Founders submit complete charter application to the League
  • 1-2 person review team; aligned to authorizer rubric
  • (1) 90-minute meeting to review scope, roles, areas of focus and timeline

Team Review (5 Hours)

  • (2) 75-minute meetings to review feedback with reviewers and your founding team; highlight of focus areas
  • Founders review entire feedback on own
  • Schedule optional 60-minute consultation with the League for further clarification or review of specific edits

Revise & Authorizer Submission

  • Founders use feedback to revise application
  • Founders submit by due date to authorizer

In order to best support you, we ask that this process begin at least three months prior to the application deadline. 

Phase 2: Mock Interview

Cost: Starts at $1,000

A team from the League will prepare your team for the interview process of your charter school application with a mock interview and feedback session. It includes:

Mock Interview Prep 

  • Founding Team prepares for authorizer interview questions
  • One, 60-minute consultation to prepare for deliberate practice

Mock Interview with League staff

  • (2)  2-hour meetings
  • Interview and probing questions; feedback & insights

In order to best support you, we ask that this process begin at least two months prior to the application deadline. 

Note: Please use the interest form on the right to begin the process for custom services.

LAUNCH Cohort

Many new schools struggle with enrollment and business operations in their first three years which can risk their ability to not only stay focused on building excellent schools, but also to stay open. To help get ahead of those issues, this community of charter school founders is working alongside one another to successfully and sustainably launch their new schools. 

The LAUNCH cohort—including monthly meetings, personalized support and networking opportunities—is free to all participating schools. Participants can expect to build meaningful relationships with similar-stage founders, engage with programming to prepare for a successful launch, and collaboratively solve shared challenges. Participants will receive stipends for their participation and have access to grants to solve specific challenges throughout the program.
 
Ideal participants will be approximately 18 months from launch with an approved charter application or clear pathway to authorization. In alignment with the League’s principles, participants must be committed to serving all students in a range of geographies around the state where quality choices or quality schools are less prevalent.
Join a community of charter school founders working alongside one another to successfully and sustainably launch their new schools. Our high-quality programming and support will include:

  • Monthly cohort meetings / workshops to support the launch of your schools and solve problems
  • 1:1 customized coaching
  • Networking with other founding teams
  • Cohort participant stipends & access to grants for recruitment and enrollment strategies
  • Scholarship to attend the League’s Annual Conference

Teams must meet the following prerequisites:

  • Offer a highly effective and innovative choice for students and families in their target community
  • Provide a program that provides equitable access to a high-quality education
  • Be in a position to open their school within the next 18 months (targeting August 2024)
  • Be approved and contracted by their authorizing district, or, have a clear path to authorization
  • Engage in a collaborative way with similar-stage founders in the cohort 
  • Commit to a minimum three hours per month of active engagement in meetings and follow-up

Our 2024-25 virtual meeting dates for the Launch Cohort are: Sept. 17, 2024, Oct. 22, Nov. 12, Dec. 10, Jan. 21, 2025, Mar. 18, April 15, and May 20th.  We will also meet in-person on Feb. 26 (as part of the annual conference).

To apply, email [email protected].