Top Ten Things 

            to do for a successful charter application!

1. Develop a dedicated and diverse charter planning committee. You need people with different skills – people who understand curriculum development, special education, finance, facilities, non-profit governance, etc…  You cannot do this yourself – build trust and delegate. 
2. Follow Directions – Follow all of the directions in the application, yes all of them!
3. Make sure your goals and objectives are mission driven and are able to be measured by your future faculty and staff.  Make sure they are going to give your future board information they can use to make critical decisions in allocating resources.  These are goals and objectives your sponsor can revoke your charter on if you are not making reasonable progress.
4. Make sure your budget adds up - I know this sounds simple, but believe me it has happened.  There is a lot of money at stake and they want to make sure you are going to be excellent stewards of the taxpayers resources.
5. Document all outreach, community support, and actual student interest in enrolling. Document all support you have for this school.  Letters of support from the mayor and other community leaders are great, but they really want to see you will hit at least 100% of your enrollment since your budget is based on these numbers.  So, if you are planning on having 200 kids that first year, make sure you have at least 200 signed forms from families stating that they are interested in their children attending your school as presented.
6. Include all required attachments – yes, all of them and anything else you tell the reader to look for in the appendices from your narrative.
7. Really Use the Review Guide – make a “cheat sheet” for the reader and for yourself.  Document everywhere you believe you have hit on the areas addressed in the regulations.  You need the approval of the advisory board.
8. Be resourceful – beg, borrow, and deal!  There are untapped resources in your community – you just need to know where to look.
9. Do not reinvent the wheel – the association and our member schools are excited to share experience and resources with you.   
10. Manage your time – make priorities about what is critical and find some kind of balance in your life.   Do not take this down to the wire – in fact you can turn it in early and be on the top of the pile for your review.       

(YES – I know these sound simple – but I see them tragically skipped over each year! Please do not let that be you! - Mary)

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