Posted on April 10, 2024
For public schools across the country, April is one of the most important times of the school year because we celebrate Autism Awareness Month. Autism Acceptance Month is meant to highlight the issues affecting people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their families, educate the public on support services, and celebrate and destigmatize the perspectives of those living with ASD. During this month, we recognize how the Arizona Austism Charter School has put the needs of students with disabilities in the forefront of the education sector.
Posted on March 4, 2024
Join us on Tuesday, March 12th from 2:00 - 3:00 PM EST for our latest webinar, "Bonds and Blackboards: A Conversation" to learn more about the current state of the charter school bond market, and discuss the bond study findings and implications for school leaders, state policymakers and other bond market participants.
Posted on October 1, 2022
Join us as we celebrate the 5th anniversary of the launch of our award-winning LISC research portal, SchoolBuild: From Idea to Construction. Help us celebrate some of the progress, updates and achievements we have made in 2022.
Posted on September 22, 2022
Get inspired by our interview with the School Principal of Evergreen Charter School, Dr. Elena Litescu. When we sat down with Dr. Litescu, she shared more about what motivated her to work with charter schools, what lenders can do more effectively to support charter schools and school leaders, and the strategies that her school uses to help support their students' racial identity development.
Posted on June 8, 2022
Celebrate the impact of our school leaders! In our conversation with the Executive Director of Amber Charter Schools, Dr. Vasthi R. Acosta she shares more about how Black, Latino and Asian educators have impacted the course of her own education, what lenders can do differently to support schools and their school leaders, and the biggest lessons she has learned from her school community.
Posted on May 4, 2022
Join us on Wednesday, May 18th from 2:00 - 3:00 PM EST for our latest webinar, "Building Your Charter School Facility Team: A Guide to Working with Architects" to learn more about what an architect is, the role they play on your facility team, and the critical services they provide to charter schools.
Posted on April 7, 2022
Join us on Tuesday, May 3rd from 2:00 - 3:00 PM EST for our latest webinar, "The Roadmap to Fiscal Security: Forecast the Future" to help you understand the obstacles that may get in the way of your plans to expand your school and gain the ability to mitigate risks and effectively execute your short and long-term vision and mission.
Posted on April 5, 2022
Get inspired by our interview with the Superintendent of the Texas Empowerment Academy, David W. Nowlin. He shares more about the books that have impacted his approach to school leadership, how black educators impacted the course of his own education, what lenders can to support schools and their school leaders.
Posted on April 4, 2022
Join us on Tuesday, April 5th from 2:00 - 3:00 PM EST for our latest webinar, "The Roadmap to Fiscal Security: Command the Present" to learn proven practices for budgeting, financial reporting, forecasting, managing cash, and gain the ability to identify financial mishaps early within your schools to prevent a financial disaster.
Posted on March 9, 2022
Join us on Tuesday, March 29th from 2:00 - 3:00 PM EST for our latest webinar, "The Roadmap to Fiscal Security: Reconcile the Past" to learn the reasoning behind operating with a common definition of responsible financial management.
Posted on February 24, 2022
Get inspired by our interview with the Vice President of the Whole Child Initiative and Community Impact at KIPP Chicago, Jennifer Hodges. She shares more about her experience working in the charter school sector, the books that have impacted her approach to school leadership, and the strategies that her network uses to help support the racial identity development of her students.
Posted on December 6, 2021
Get inspired by our interview with the founding school director of Westchase Classical Academy, Diana Castillo. She shares more about her experience working in the charter school sector, the books that have impacted her approach to school leadership, and biggest lessons that she has learned from her school community.
Posted on October 19, 2021
Join us as we celebrate the 4th anniversary of the launch of our award-winning LISC research portal, SchoolBuild: From Idea to Construction. Celebrate some of the progress and achievements we have made over a very unpredictable and challenging year
Posted on October 12, 2021
Join us Tuesday, October 26th from 2:00 - 3:00 PM EST for our latest webinar, "Building a Facility Team: Owner's Representative 101", and to learn more about what an Owner’s Representative (OR) is and the role they could play on your facility team.
Posted on October 7, 2021
Celebrate the impact of our school leaders! In our conversation with the Head of School of Henry Johnson Charter School, Dustin Mitchell, he shares more about how he creates joy for his students, the books that have impacted his approach to school leadership, and best advice.
Posted on August 18, 2021
Get inspired by our interview with the Founder of Essence Preparatory Charter School, Akeem Brown. He shares what motivated him to start working in the charter school sector, the books that have impacted his approach to school leadership, and what lenders can do differently to support schools and their school leaders.
Posted on July 14, 2021
Celebrate the impact of our school leaders! In our conversation with the Founder and Executive Director of the Resurgence Hall Charter School, Tori Jackson-Hines, she shares more about her experience working in the charter school sector, the books that have impacted her approach to school leadership, and how black educators impacted the course of her own education.
Posted on May 19, 2021
Learn tips for keeping your partners and school community informed about your financial position during times of so much uncertainty and change. Different ways of telling your school’s financial story will be outlined. This blog was written by the Nonprofit Finance Fund.
Posted April 21, 2021
Charter schools that are contemplating a facility project in the next three years will get the information they need to find and apply for New Market Tax Credits.
Posted on April 19, 2021
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools released their Charter Schools and District Bond Offerings report as part of their State Policy Analyses for Public Charter School Facilities Series. This report outlines how charter schools and school districts can work together to create favorable financing conditions and increase charter school inclusion in future bond offerings.
Posted on April 14, 2021
Get inspired by our interview with the Founder and Executive Director of the Social Justice School, Myron Long. He shares how long he has been working in the charter school sector, the books that have impacted his approach to school leadership, and the impact of having Black teachers or professors over the course of his own education.
Posted on April 7, 2021
The National Association of Charter School Authorizers recently released their National Policy Index as a resource for the sector to learn and gain insight on the charter policy landscape in all 50 states. The National Policy Index covers statutes, primarily in state charter school law, that relate to charter school authorizing. It is the most comprehensive database of state-level legislation related to education reform, authorizing, and charter schools. This resource will help authorizers, school leaders, education researchers and advocates see how their state compares to others in areas such as access and equity, charter governance, and funding.
Posted March 21, 2021
Celebrate the impact of our school leaders! In our conversation with the Chief Executive Officer of the Coney Island Preparatory Public Charter School, Leslie-Bernard Joseph, learn more about what lenders can do to effectively support schools, his motivation to do this work and best advice.
Posted March 21, 2020
Celebrate the impact of our school leaders! In our conversation with the founding school leader of KIPP Indy Legacy High School, David Spencer, learn more about his time working in the charter school sector, the strategies that his network uses to help support the racial identity development of their students, and the biggest lessons he has learned from his school community.
Posted on March 10, 2021
Get inspired by our interview with the Founder and School Director for the Rêve Preparatory Charter School, Traci Thibodeaux. She shares the best piece of advice she has received, her motivation to do this work, and the strategies that her network uses to support the development of their students.
Posted on March 10, 2021
Read our interview with the Head of School for the Bronx Charter School for Children, Denise Alexander. She shares how she creates joy for her students, the biggest lessons she has learned from her school community and the books that have impacted her approach to school leadership.
Posted on February 18, 2021
Get inspired with the debut of our School Leaders Who Inspire Series! In our conversation with the Chief of Schools of Friendship Blow Pierce Elementary and Middle School, James F. Waller, learn more about his motivation to lead and teach, his biggest lessons, influences and best advice.
Posted on Feburary 9, 2021
In 2021, we are excited to debut our School Leaders Who Inspire Series! This new series is intended to celebrate and highlight the prominent and impactful educators we have the pleasure of working with. In our conversation with Executive Director of El Sol Science and Arts Academy, Monique Daviss, learn more about her motivation to lead and teach, her biggest lessons, influences and best advice.
Posted on January 25, 2021
The National Alliance for Charter Schools recently released a new publication that explores how innovative approaches adopted during the pandemic will impact the future of school facilities. Read the School Buildings of the Future: Lessons from the Pandemic article to understand your future school facility needs.
Posted on January 22, 2021
Join us Tuesday, January 26th from 3:30 - 4:30 PM EST for our latest webinar, "What Will Charter School Facilties Look Like in 2040?", and discuss the many ways facilities will change over the next ten to twenty years as our understanding of student needs changes.
Posted December 8, 2020
The Equitable Facilities Fund recently released the latest Charter School Bond Sector Study: 2019 Year in Review. This resource will help charter school operators, policymakers, bond investors, and real estate developers make inform decisions about how best to expand high-quality charter schools.
Posted October 26, 2020
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools recently released a new Charter School Data Dashboard. This resource will help school leaders, parents, students, advocates, and education researchers access the sectors most recent and up to date charter school numbers and data.
Posted on October 20, 2020
This month marks the 3rd anniversary of the launch of our award-winning LISC research portal, SchoolBuild: From Idea to Construction. We launched SchoolBuild with the mission of demystifying the facility development process. To celebrate, we wanted to take some time to reflect on the achievements and progress we have made since launching.
Posted on October 16, 2020
The Charter School Facility Center recently released the Communities of Excellence Project: Charter School Facility Refinancing Guide & Toolkit. This resource will help schools understand the refinancing process and their refinancing options.
Posted on September 22, 2020
Join us Tuesday September 29th from 1:00 - 2:30 PM EST for our latest webinar, Back to School Facilities Planning in the Era of COVID-19, and learn the best practice strategies for preventing the spread of COVID-19, containing COVID & improving school facilities to serve students during this pandemic.
Posted on September 15, 2020
In response to how charter schools adapted to the COVID-19 Pandemic and as schools prepare to execute their Back to School plans, the LISC Charter School Financing Team decided to compile a list of Back to School articles and resources from charter schools and charter networks across the country that have already implemented successful and safe returns to school strategies.
Posted on September 3, 2020
The CDFI Racial Equity Colloborative on Education came together in a recent blog post to share the experiences and lessons they have learned to help guide simlar organizations as they try to center their lending, investing, and operational work around racial equity principles. These CDFIs came together to share their experiences as many organizations around the country commit to racial equity.
Posted on August 3, 2020
The Charter School Facility Center recently released the third installment of the State Policy Snapshot: Facilities Financing for Public Charter Schools. The purpose of this report is to provide the charter school community and policy makers with a complete picture of the credit enhancement that may be avalaible to charter schools as a source of low cost financing support to reduce the cost of facilities financing.
Posted on July 31, 2020
Join us on Wednesday August 19th from 1:00 – 2:30 PM EST for our latest webinar, A New Landscape: Exploring Charter School Financing Opportunities, and help your school navigate the facility financing options available for charter school facility improvements.
Posted on July 15, 2020
During last month's CSLC and NCSRC webinar, LISC joined Self-Help and Reinvestment Fund as representatives of the CDFI Racial Equity Collaborative on Education. Speakers shared the collaborative's efforts to review lending practices in order to center racial equity in their work. Watch this recording to learn more.
Posted on June 26, 2020
Perry Street Preparatory Charter School occupies a stately brick building on a quiet, leafy street in Northeast Washington, DC. Built in 1900 and fronting a grassy park, the school “is where parents envision sending their kids,” says Kelly Smith.
Posted on June 25, 2020
In response to this crisis, the LISC Charter School Financing Team research and compiled resources from across the nation that we believe will be helpful for charter schools, school leaders, students and teachers.
Posted on May 11, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has made plotting a course through current and future facility needs an even more challenging exercise. SchoolPrint’s team of experts have compiled some considerations and recommendations, both circumstantial and evergreen, to guide your decision-making over the course of your charter school’s facility lifecycle.
Posted on May 11, 2020
This week is National Charter Schools Week, and LISC is pleased to announce a second round of $800,000 Spark Opportunity Grants to 21 persevering charters schools across the country.
Posted on May 11, 2020
The SchoolPrint team of experts has put together a new resource for the SchoolBuild website, outlining the 3 Primary Stages of a Construction Project. Learn about the key components and milestones within each phase.
Posted on: November 12, 2019
Guest blog by Mark Medema, Managing Director of the Charter School Facility Center. Some people say that charter school leaders should just outsource their entire facility project to a developer. In my experience, I’ve learned that charter school leaders want to know about any and everything going on with their school – including their building, especially when it costs more than college for all their students.
Posted on: September 17, 2019
LISC has launched the Spark Opportunity Grant Program to provide predevelopment grant capital to K-12 public charter schools to support development of feasibility plans for new school facilities.
Posted on: September 17, 2019
LISC has launched a new program to help connect charter school operators to experts in facilities development, called SchoolPrint: Charter School Project Management.
Posted on September 17, 2019
Thank you for visiting and recommending SchoolBuild for the past two years. We are constantly working to make SchoolBuild exactly what schools need to answer all of their charter school facility questions.
Posted on August 6, 2019
More than 8,700 newly created Opportunity Zones are now racing to attract a portion of the $6 trillion in capital that may flow under a provision of the new tax law enacted in 2017.
Posted on August 6, 2019
To help slake the movement’s thirst for new facilities, charter supporters have been eyeing a new pot of money with growing interest—Opportunity Zones.
Posted on June 30, 2019
The U.S. Department of Education is inviting applications for fiscal year 2019 for Credit Enhancement for Charter School Facilities Grants.
Posted on June 30, 2019
The Charter School Facility Center at the National Alliance for Public Schools is looking to support projects that capture and share best practices for addressing the charter school facilities challenge.
Posted on June 30, 2019
The District plans to lease a vacant campus in Southeast Washington, potentially paving the way for a charter school to take over a public school building for the first time during Mayor Muriel E. Bowser’s five-year tenure.
Posted on June 25, 2019
This year, the LISC Charter School Financing team is looking forward to the opportunity to network with our colleagues and schools at the National Charter School Conference. See the conference elements we are most excited about.
Posted on: January 18, 2019
This week we are joining in the School Choice Week celebrations with the launch of this SchoolBuild blog! This blog is a unique opportunity to extend the work we have partnered with our colleagues across the sector to do.