2020 Presentations
Thursday, March 12th
| Time | Room | Strand | Title | Description | Presenter(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8:30 AM – 10:30 AM | Dodd | Board Members | Strategic Planning | For many charter school boards and school leaders, strategic planning is a top governance priority. Successful charter school boards develop a strategic plan that focuses on the stated mission and vision of the school and then monitor and edit the plan on a regular basis. In this workshop, facilitators will provide best practices to help charter board members proactively strategize for strategic plan development and monitoring. | Jeff Homan, Elisa Falco, Georgia Charter Schools Association |
| 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM | Salon 5 | Finance and Operational Leaders | Charter School Finance 101 | Approximately 80% of all charter school closures are due to poor financial oversight by staff and board. This statistic is unacceptable and avoidable. But leaders in charter schools must put into place the correct processes from day one. While academics are the very visible side of a charter school’s success, the financial operations of a charter school are just as important but far less visible to the public. This presentation helps charter leaders design and implement accounting and internal control systems, monitor financial reports, prepare for audits and create annual budgets. | Candy Yu, Avolon Accounting & CFO Services |
| 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM | Rainwater | School Leaders | Adaptive Leadership and Growing Successful Schools | Successful schools institutionalize cultures and practices that support ongoing growth and adaptation to emergent conditions. In this workshop, experienced school leaders share essential steps and promising practices, including around hiring, board training, strategic planning, and blended, personalized, and competency-based models, as well as the replication and incubation of schools. | Dr. Otho Tucker, Dr. Chris Harth, Lake Oconee Academy |
| 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM | Salon 6 | School Leaders | Response to Intervention: Achieving High Levels of Student Growth and Progress with a School-Based RTI Team | Drew Charter Elementary is one of the highest performing elementary schools in Atlanta Public Schools. In addition to strong foundations in PBL, STEAM, SEL, Drew has a robust and comprehensive approach to serving students who require research based interventions. Come and hear how to replicate this model in your school! | Bethany Paquette, Jennifer Henderson, Drew Charter Elementary School |
| 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM | Trammel | Teachers | 15 Ways to Protect Your School from a Cyber-Attack | Highlighting safe computer, and modern technology, practices and policies that are specifically geared toward teachers. Topics to include: What is a Cyber-Attack? What is Ransomware? What is a phishing email? Discuss password policy. Q & A to empower you with solutions for your specific concerns! | Ben Miner, Southeastern Computer Associates |
| 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM | Devore | School Leaders | Enrollment Marketing 101: How Attract and Engage Prospective Students | Boosting your enrollment is a sure-fire way to ensure that your school thrives. Join us and learn actionable tips on how to find, attract, and engage prospective students. We’ll have you thinking creatively about enrollment season – especially from an online perspective. Harness your resources and build your enrollment more confidently! | Janet Johnson, Charter School Capital |
| 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM | Salon 4 | Instructional Leaders | What Do You Mean I Can’t Do That? Special Education in Charter Schools | While charter school autonomy provides an exciting opportunity to employ innovative ways to serve students with disabilities, charters must follow federal and state special education law. This session will be an interactive discussion of how to comply with those laws while still leveraging charter school autonomy to provide a high quality education for your students with disabilities. | Wendy Tucker, National Center for Special Education in Charter Schools |
| 8:30 AM – 10:30 AM | Dodd | Board Members | Strategic Planning | For many charter school boards and school leaders, strategic planning is a top governance priority. Successful charter school boards develop a strategic plan that focuses on the stated mission and vision of the school and then monitor and edit the plan on a regular basis. In this workshop, facilitators will provide best practices to help charter board members proactively strategize for strategic plan development and monitoring. | Jeff Homan, Elisa Falco, Georgia Charter Schools Association |
| 9:50 AM – 10:50 AM | Devore | School Leaders | What’s Next? Exploring Possible Next Steps for Your Charter School | Have you wondered what’s next for your school? Take a walk with Museum School staff members as we share our journey of exploration. From expansion to increased partnerships, TMS staff will share various ideas, tips, and tools for broadening your impact. | Dr. Katherine Kelbaugh, Mike Stewart, The Museum School of Avondale Estates |
| 9:50 AM – 10:50 AM | Salon 6 | Instructional Leaders | Effective Technology Integration on a Budget | Your school community is excited to have finally gotten the funding for Chromebooks in all classrooms. Technology is a worthwhile expense, but now teachers need training and there is very little money left in the budget. This session will show you how to get the support needed for teachers. | Rebecca Brewer, Judson Powe, Juan Alejo, Furlow Charter School |
| 9:50 AM – 10:50 AM | Salon 5 | School Leaders | Successful Fundraising Strategies | You will learn how to develop successful and sustainable fundraising campaigns that increase revenue through corporate giving, individual contributions, philanthropic gifts, staff giving, and special events. You’ll also learn how to identify new prospects to increase the number and size of funds and gain an understanding of donor cultivation. | Derrick Hill, HillChase LLC; Dr. Charcia Nichols, Ivy Preparatory Academy |
| 9:50 AM – 10:50 AM | Trammel | School Leaders | E-Rate 101 | The FCC’s E-rate program makes telecommunications and information services more affordable for schools. With funding from the Universal Service Fund, E-rate provides discounts ranging from 20 percent to 90 percent of the costs of eligible services. This session will explain how your charter can participate and receive benefits through the E-rate program. | Charlie Jackson, Cristan McCall, Georgia Board of Regents; Emily Castillo-Leon, Ethos Classical Charter School |
| 9:50 AM – 10:50 AM | Salon 4 | Financial and Operational Leaders | TBA | TBA | TriNet |
| 9:50 AM – 10:50 AM | Rainwater | Teachers and School Leaders | Loveful Pedagogy | Loveful Pedagogy will introduce participants into head and heart mindsets and skillets as a part of a menu of trauma informed and restorative practices. Blending brain and trauma informed research into school culture and classroom practices utilIzing Healing Circles. | Marcus Harden, The Academy for Creating Excellence |
| 1:50 PM – 2:50 PM | Rainwater | Board Members and School Leaders | Charter School Performance Frameworks | Join Representatives from Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) and the State Charter Schools Commission (SCSC) as they discuss the recently updated performance frameworks. Both locally-approved charter schools and state commissioned charter schools will gain a better understanding of what it means to meet performance expectations on an annual basis and for charter renewal at the end of a contract term. | Allen Mueller, Kerry Pritchard, Georgia Department of Education; Katie Manthey, State Charter Schools Commission |
| 1:50 PM – 3:50 PM | Dodd | Board Members | Accountability Starts with your Board | Accountabilty in charter schools starts with good governance and effective oversight. Learn how to track academics, finance and organizational indicators using dashboards and other tools. This hands-on session will allow participants to problem solve and take away tools that can be easily implemented. | Ayana Clarke, Georgia Charter Schools Association |
| 1:50 PM – 2:50 PM | Salon 5 | Instructional Leaders | Developing Your Classroom Teachers: The System to Set Up, The Skills to Teach, and the Structure for Support | Using the PBIS framework and research-based best practices, this session will describe how to establish an ongoing system of evaluation, action plan with identified priorities, create targeted training to address classroom management skill needs, and offer tiered supports for teachers. | Tammi Clarke, Amber Phillips, Georgia Department of Education |
| 1:50 PM – 2:50 PM | Devore | Financial and Operational Leaders | Charter Facility Financing: Bonds and Boards | Join BB&T Capital Markets’ nationally recognized Charter School Group as they discuss long term facility financing (bonds) with a special emphasis on the board’s involvement and responsibilities. Hear first-hand perspectives from BB&T Capital Markets’ bankers Bert Newsome and Monica Cutno (an Envision Science Academy founding board member) on how charter schools finance the construction, renovation, and/or acquisition of facilities. Learn how to successfully navigate the financing process to help you avoid costly and time-consuming pitfalls. | Bert Newsome, A. Monica Cuto, BB&T Capital Markets |
| 1:50 PM – 2:50 PM | Salon 4 | Board Members | YOU’RE OUT OF ORDER! How to be a Great Board Chair and run an Efficient and Effective Meeting | Charter school governing boards face numerous challenging questions – how to both support school leaders and hold them accountable? How to follow the Open Meetings and Open Records Acts? What the heck is Roberts Rules of Order? This panel will address the important role the Board Chair plays in presiding over a meeting and coordinating the important work that goes on inside and outside the boardroom. | Rob Fortson, McGuireWoods; Sharon Camara, The GLOBE Academy; Matthew Kirby, Atlanta Classical Academy; Joshua Menifee, Utopian Academy For The Arts |
| 1:50 PM – 2:50 PM | Trammel | Teachers | How to Use Behavior Data to Promote a Culture of Learning | In this session, we will show a correlation between classroom positivity and student achievement and demonstrate how our leadership team used culture data to coach teachers on improving the culture of learning in their own classrooms. | Hyla-Mone’t Penn, Dr. Osizwe Raena Harwell, The Kindezi School WEST |
| 1:50 PM – 2:50 PM | Salon 6 | Board Members | Open Meetings and Open Records | This session will examine common open meetings and open records issues that frequently confront charter school boards in particular. | Christopher Adams, Barclay Hendrix, Daniel Alfino, Krevolin & Horst, LLC; Elisa Falco, Georgia Charter Schools Association |
| 1:50 PM – 3:50 PM | Dodd | Board Members | Accountability Starts with Your Board | Accountabilty in charter schools starts with good governance and effective oversight. Learn how to track academics, finance and organizational indicators using dashboards and other tools. This hands-on session will allow participants to problem solve and take away tools that can be easily implemented. | Ayana Clarke, Georgia Charter Schools Association |
| 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM | Salon 4 | Instructional Leaders | Innovations in Autism Inclusion | Come learn how to make your classroom environment and instruction more accessible to children with autism! With 1 in 45 children today diagnosed with autism, the chances are good that you have had or will have a child with autism in your classroom. Best practices for creating a more inclusive educational environment will be discussed and you will learn how a school with a 50% autistic population allows all of its’ students to thrive both academically and socially. | Matthew Tyson, Ashley Bernardo, Lauren Sullivan, Tapestry Charter School |
| 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM | Salon 6 | Financial and Operational Leaders | Building a Successful Team, Timeline, and Budget for your New, Existing or Replicating Charter School | Interested in learning more about site considerations, building out your team and timelines? Join us in learning how to successfully build your team to ensure that your new/existing/replicating school is considering all of the options and following state requirements. Cameron Quick will be sharing about a facilities research project in GA to provide further support from the SCSC & GCSA. | Ashley Cary, Charter School Facility Team; Cameron Quick, Tennessee Charter School Center |
| 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM | Salon 5 | Board Members | Easy Marketing Strategies for Your School | Learn quick, easy marketing strategies to increase your school’s brand and visibility. These tips are low-to-no cost solutions that will help you: ⁃Recruit families, talent, resources ⁃Communicate with parents ⁃Own and control your school narrative. Participants will also receive free marketing plan and 30-Day content calendar templates. |
Ariana Thomas, Flylight Creative; Aarti Sharma, Georgia Charter Schools Association; Nikki Grier, D.E.L.T.A. STEAM Academy |
| 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM | Trammel | Teachers | Increasing Math Performance and Engagement | In this session we will investigate how to engage students in mathematics through Make Music Counts STEAM method of teaching math through playing popular songs on the piano. This digital platform is best for 3rd – 12th grade students and focuses on math ranging from fractions to algebra and precalculus where the answers are the piano notes to immediately play students favorite songs. | Marcus Blackwell, Make Music Count |
| 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM | Devore | School Leaders | Top 10 Safety and Security Pitfalls | The media has created increased pressure for schools to do something quickly to protect students. This session will focus on creating a tiered physical security plan that understands limited funding while avoiding safety and security pitfalls utilizing national best practices. | Kevin Wren, Partner Alliance for Safer Schools |
| 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM | Rainwater | Teachers | Standards-Based Classroom | Is your classroom a “Standards-Based Classroom”? Together, we will take a look at the instructional processes that have to be in place to develop the artifacts associated with a standards-based classroom. We will also explore how teachers implement the instructional processes needed for a standards-based classroom. Be sure to bring an upcoming standard to work with during this hands on session! | Jeanie Huddleston, Georgia Charter Schools Association |
Friday, March 13th
| Time | Room | Strand | Title | Description | Presenter(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11:05 AM – 12:05 PM | Salon 5 | Instructional Leaders | Transforming College and Career Pathways Through Rigorous Instruction and Vertical Teams | Teachers work hard preparing students for the demands of college and careers. Vertical teaming provides consistency in aligning standards and ensuring what students learn builds from classroom to classroom. Strong vertical teams allow meaningful connections to be made to scaffold instruction resulting in deep attainment of content knowledge and skills. | Tammi Stewart, Toni Schnelder, National Math & Science Initiative |
| 11:05 AM – 12:05 PM | Salon 4 | School Leaders | Student and Family Engagement in a Super diverse context | At ICS, we serve students from over 25 countries around the world. In this session, we will share tips and tricks from our toolkit to engage and involve a diverse group of students and families. | Julie Allen, Aliya Jafri, International Community School |
| 11:05 AM – 12:05 PM | Salon 6 | All | Women and Money: Taking Control of Your Financial Future | The economic clout of females is undeniable but often women do not seek the assistance of financial professionals. This seminar helps women understand their unique life circumstances associated with their longevity and finances. Ann highlights the importance of creating a plan for your varying life stages before, during and after retirement and how crucial it is to work with a financial professional as you plan. | Ann Hughes, CEO of The Female Affect |
| 11:05 AM – 12:05 PM | Devore | All | 2020 Legislative Update LIVE! | Join GCSA’s Policy and Advocacy Team for an update on the 2020 legislative agenda. In addition to discussing our current policy and appropriations requests, discuss issues you want GCSA to address. The team will give attendees a glimpse into Georgia’s political landscape and what’s expected during the 2020 election cycle. Attendees will also walk away with ways they can engage elected officials. | Dr. Bonnie Holliday, RaShaun Holliman, Georgia Charter Schools Association |
| 11:05 AM – 12:05 PM | Trammel | Teachers | Culturally Relevant Pedagogy | Objective: To highlight the importance of culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) and to guide educators in understanding the characteristics of CRP in instructional delivery and a classroom’s culture. Teachers who attend this workshop will develop concrete strategies for equitable, inclusive pedagogical practices to increase cultural responsiveness in the classroom. | Ayana Clarke, Andrey Hill, Georgia Charter Schools Association |
| 11:05 AM – 12:05 PM | Dodd | Board Members | “HOUSE HUNTERS, CHARTER SCHOOL EDITION”: True Stories from Charter Leaders of How They Landed the Right Home for their School | Having trouble finding a home for your school? You are not alone! Facilities are a constant struggle in the early years of charter approval and operation for both urban and rural charter leaders. This panel will discuss the trials, tribulations, and ultimate successes, of three different schools from around the state. They will share their experiences and give you practical tips to ensure you get the best deal and land a facility that is affordable and sustainable. | Alan Sun, McGuire Woods LLP; Witt Gaither, Academy of Classical Education; June Erickson, Fulton Academy of Science and Technology; Danny Dukes, Cherokee Charter Academy |
| 12:10 PM – 1:10 PM | Salon 4 | Instructional Leaders | Follow Our RoadMAP to Growth: Using MAP to Improve Student Achievement | Teachers and school leaders have a multitude of data sources available to them. We will take a deep dive into how we have begun to utilize MAP to develop classroom strategies to impact student achievement. Further, we will discuss how we help parents to understand how their scholar is meeting grade level expectations. Finally, we will share our bumps and bruises, as we learn how to use data effectively to improve student achievement and parent engagement. | Dr. Tonya Williams, Inshira Martin, Dr. Jackie George, Leadership Preparatory Academy |
| 12:10 PM – 1:10 PM | Dodd | Board Members | From the Bottom Up: Successful Succession Planning for School Leadership | This session will provide Boards and School Leaders with strategies and best practices for succession planning within your charter school. The session leader will discuss teacher leadership programs, leadership team development, and executive leadership development along with coaching for excellence at every level of the school organization to ensure that succession of the top school leader is robust, realistic, and ready! | Heather J Robinson, Cross & Dot LLC; Brazilia Bilal-Page, Georgia Connections Academy; Jeff Homan, Georgia Charter Schools Association |
| 12:10 PM – 1:10 PM | Devore | Board Members | Strengthening Board Governance: Using Dashboard to Drive Decisions | This session will provide an overview of the proper role of the board in charter school governance, as well as guidance on what board members should be monitoring to ensure their school is on track to achieve academic success, financial stability, operational efficiency, and a positive school culture. Our charter experts will present examples of specific metrics to measure to track your school’s performance, as well as goals to keep in mind. We will also teach you to build a dashboard with visuals and graphs that that will help you to understand data and use it to make smart governance decisions as well as share your school’s story with stakeholders. | Nida Rab, Dan Cembrola, EdTec |
| 12:10 PM – 1:10 PM | Trammel | Financial and Operational Leaders; School Leaders | Starting and Operating an A+ School Food Program | HSFC presents a comprehensive review of what school leaders must know to start a school food program. | James A. Graham, MEd, MBA, JD, The Healthy School Food Collaborative |
| 12:10 PM – 1:10 PM | Salon 5 | Instructional Leaders; School Leaders; Teachers | Inclusive Classrooms Close Equity Gaps | There are 3 particular elements of inclusion that if approached differently, could result in radically different outcomes for our students. This hands-on workshop is designed to help educators feel more prepared for meeting a wide range of student needs, and more comfortable working with a wide range of student profiles. | Jen Owen, Ed.S., CoCreatED; Ashley Gladden, Centennial Academy |
| 12:10 PM – 1:10 PM | Salon 6 | School Leaders | Building a Culture of Advocacy | Students, faculty, and parents practice advocacy nearly every day by attending your charter school, but what are some ways to make advocacy a purposeful part of your school’s culture? Now more than ever, everyone connected to a charter school must be able to effectively communicate the emotions, benefits, and facts of this movement. Are your educators prepared to speak out and speak up? Your students and parents? Learn ways to delegate advocacy efforts and transform your school’s culture! | Kira Tookes, Association of American Educators; Dr. Patricia Ratcliffe, Ricardo Brown,Georgia Charter Schools Association |