As one climbs a steep hill or takes on a seemingly impossible task, one might argue a person fares better fully knowing the depth of the challenges ahead while another might argue that if known, those challenges could become so daunting the knowledge could become an impediment. In 2012, I was ignorant of the depth of the task I was taking on. I didn’t know how ‘in the dark’ I was, but time revealed my ignorance with relation to the challenge I had accepted: build a public charter school in St. Louis City. I knew it would be hard. My family knew there would be sacrifices made. And, we planned to work hard, climb the hill and do great things for kids in the City of St. Louis. And we did. As of 2022, we built the highest performing charter school in St. Louis. The only schools performing better were selective gifted magnet schools.
Ten years later, it is laughable how much I did not know. I had been in education for 12 years; I had built an alternative school program, as the lead administrator. I had taught for years. I knew how to provide a great education, but I did not know how to run a school district, and a public charter school has almost all of the same obligations as a public school district: finance, HR, facilities, federal programs, food service, school safety, record keeping, legal compliance, parent engagement, strategic planning, to only scratch the surface.
If … at the time I had had the degrees and certifications I have now (Education Specialist in School Leadership, Educational Doctorate in Educational Leadership, Principal Certifications, Superintendent Certification), it would still surprise most how ill-prepared I was to do the work. This is not to say the university programs I attended did an insufficient job of preparation. It is to say that some things can’t be taught in a classroom setting. Some things are relevant only to starting a new school. Some things come from living it.
So in this blog, I plan to offer insight into the lived school founder’s life and the lessons learned. Some comes from my experience as a school founder, some from my current work as a charter school sponsor/authorizer, and some from conversations with a current charter school founder, still in her planning year. Through these conversations, I recall things I failed to plan for, strategies that had the greatest impact, and actions that seemed small at the time but had outsized effect over time. There is value sharing all of this with someone living it now.
Some of what I will share comes from my dissertation: Which School- and Community-Level Characteristics Lead to Charter School Success? co-written with my friend and successor to me as Executive Director at the one of the schools founded. We examined the first five years of a public charter school to understand how we made it through. What were those magical components that led to our success (because in all honesty, sometimes we surprised ourselves).
No matter where it comes from, it is my hope that the successes and failures I have lived, researched, and observed will become a resource to those living it now, paving a successful road to providing a great education to all students.
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