In conjunction with the release of our newest issue brief, the Charter Blog is looking at ways public charter school leaders design their school mission to meet diverse community needs. Building the school model
Citizens of the World Charter Schools (CWC) aims to provide an excellent public education that is academically rigorous and socioeconomically, racially and culturally diverse, and builds community both within and outside of the school. Their flagship school, CWC Hollywood, opened in fall 2010 after a full planning year, delivering an intellectually challenging, experiential learning environment that is designed to build each students confidence, potential, and individual responsibility as citizens of the world in which we live. The Hollywood school is the first of a network of schools to open in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, with two additional schools approved to open in Silver Lake in the fall 2012 and Mar Vista in fall 2013 . CWC deeply believes that demand for high performing, neighborhood schools exists within many communities across the country. Citing the hundreds of families who sit on waitlists for other strong, diverse charter schools, CWC feels compelled to meet the demand, and sees strategic, aggressive growth as the lever to do so. Taking it national CWC evaluates potential school markets by analyzing the demographics of neighborhoods and identifying neighborhoods that could attract a diverse student population through organic growth and community outreach (as opposed to employing a weighted lottery). Taking this into account, as well as the potential state’s charter school law, per pupil funding, parent demand, and talent on the ground, CWC selects new sites and begins to identify parents and community leaders who are supportive of the mission and vision. CWC—which sees itself as somewhat of a hybrid between a charter management organization (CMO) and charter school incubator—strives to build high quality teams to run schools with the CWC mission, yet leave enough room within the CWC brand to give school leaders true autonomy to make school-level decisions that are responsive to and reflective of the community it serves. Recognizing that this takes time and grassroots organizing, CWC works to identify new sites early enough to ensure comprehensive outreach to the community. CWC’s involvement in the California and New York markets has yielded different lessons in terms of adapting to local policies. In California, which ranks as the 43rd lowest state for per pupil funding allotments when labor is factored, employing non-classroom staff to conduct community outreach is nearly cost prohibitive. So school location in diverse neighborhoods is of the utmost importance, since that will be the primary means to attract the desired student population. Other funding issues, like deferrals and mid-year cuts, create pressured revenue streams for charter schools. In New York, charter schools are held accountable for matching the enrollment population—not neighborhood population—of district schools. Therefore, CWC’s focus on student diversity could be difficult because schools with a focus on diversity would seem to be faced with inherent challenges in complying with this requirement. CWC will test the national pulse for creating K-12 schools that open a pathway to college while learning in diverse school settings as it strives to build a network of schools across the country. For more information on Citizens of the World Charter Schools, please visit their website. Photo: Citizens of the World Charter School website.
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