Conference Details - All You Want to Know

Meet our Keynote, Dr. Jim Goenner

Dr. Jim Goenner is a champion for excellence and a member of the National Charter Schools Hall of Fame. He is president and chief executive officer of the National Charter Schools Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the charter school movement and equipping schools, boards and authorizers with the ideas, tools and resources they need to win for kids.

Prior to joining the Institute, Jim led Central Michigan University’s chartering efforts, making CMU the nation’s first and largest university authorizer of charter public schools. Under his leadership, CMU became known as the “gold standard” for charter school authorizing, earning recognition from both the U.S. and Michigan departments of education. He helped found the National Association of Charter School Authorizers and the Michigan Council of Charter School Authorizers.

Prepare to be inspired at Jim’s March 7 lunch keynote presentation “Chartering New Paths: The Power of Vision, Persistence and Fortitude.” He will challenge attendees to be bold and blaze new paths of opportunity for students, educators, and communities.

Meet Our Keynote, Anurupa Ganguly

Anurupa Ganguly is the founder and chief executive officer of Prisms, the world’s first spatial learning platform where students learn core Grades 6-12 math and science through first-person, career-connected problems powered by virtual reality. An MIT-trained engineer turned educator, she founded Prisms after over a decade of teaching and leading curriculum and instruction for some of the largest districts in the country, including Boston and New York City.

She left the classroom to invent because “after a decade in school district leadership, I came to understand that our efforts were somewhat in vain. Our world is 3D, complex, and multimodal, yet even the most well-intentioned learning models in the vast majority of public schools remain flat, confined to small, dismembered white and black rectangles.”

Anurupa’s morning keynote, “A New Moment in Education: How Advances in Technology Could Transform Learning,” on March 7 will follow an address from Governor Kevin J. Stitt. In it, she will share her journey with STEM education reform, from her time as a teacher and district leader to the genesis of Prisms. She will detail pilots occurring in Oklahoma with Prisms and how recent advances in spatial computing enable schools to scale how committed educators have always wanted to teach – through relevant problems that help student develop passions, fall in love with lifelong learning, and gain exposure to the skill-based careers of the American economy.

Other Speakers & Attractions

Gov. Kevin J. Stitt will speak at the conference on March 7, and we kick off on March 6 at 10 a.m. with dynamic presenters that include:

State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd will present "A Case Study in Ethics."
Secretary of Education Nellie Sanders will moderate a panel discussion with legislative leaders on “Hot Topics in Education and for Charters at the State Capitol," which will include Sen. Adam Pugh, Rep. Dick Lowe, Rep. Chad Caldwell and Rep. Dell Kerby.
Staff from the Oklahoma Department of Education from the areas of Finance, Federal Programs, Compliance/Accreditation, Governance and Safety/Security will discuss and answer questions about compliance issues they are identifying.
National expert in charter facilities Jim Griffin, the co-founder of Momentum Strategy and Research, which has done considerable research for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, will present with Fuel OKC Executive Director Brent Bushey on “What Oklahoma Needs and Other States Are Doing.”

Conference times

The conference will begin on March 6 at 10 a.m., with registration beginning at 8 a.m. The day will conclude with a complimentary reception from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the conference hotel, the Embassy Suites Downtown Medical Center. We will begin the next morning on March 7 at 9 a.m., with registration beginning at 8 a.m., and the conference will conclude at 5 p.m.

Training credit

Attendees who need state-approved training credits because they are school board members, encumbrance clerks or treasurers will have the opportunity to earn up to 12 hours of credit by attending the conference, including sessions on Finance, Ethics and Open Meetings.

Conference Mobile App

We will soon be releasing a link to the mobile app for the conference, where the full line-up of speakers and presentation descriptions can be found, and from which attendees can curate their individual conference schedules and filter for Training, Leadership, Governance, Operations, Finance and Virtual sessions. We will also be using the mobile app to track training credits for those who need to earn credit. Our goal is to email all conference attendees a link to the mobile app by Feb. 17.

Authorizer Training

State-required authorizer training also will be held on March 6 from 1 to 5 p.m. in the Everest Ballroom at the conference hotel. We invite authorizers to take part in all other aspects of the conference that do not conflict with their training period on March 6.

Conference Sponsors

The Oklahoma Charter Schools Conference would not be possible without the support of our Premium, Gold and Silver sponsors. Because of them, we are able to plan a meaningful event for the charter school community and provide meals and a complimentary reception. During the conference, please make sure to visit our exhibitors' booths and thank the sponsors you are able to meet.

Platinum Sponsors - $10,000 contribution

Leadership Institute, Imagine Learning and the National Charter Institute

Gold Sponsors - $5,000 contribution

Inasmuch Foundation, Waterford Learning, the Oklahoma Public School Resource Center

Silver Sponsors - $1,000 contribution

Barlow and Associates, Fuel OKC, Cognia, Miller Tippens, Wilson Language Training, Mindplay, Oklahoma Consulting & Accounting Services, Hickman Law Group, Deighan Educational Services LLC, and Level Field.

Conference Registration

Statewide School Board to Meet Feb. 10

The next meeting of the Statewide Charter School Board will be held Monday, Feb. 10. This meeting will be inclusive of an executive session, a presentation by a proposed school that has applied for authorization from the Board, and the Board will highlight a STEAM initiative of Connections Academy, a statewide virtual school.

Meeting Agenda