Charter Schools Office

October Newsletter

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RESOURCES FOR SCHOOLS

Below are standing resourceful items for our schools to stay up-to-date. Click below!

Building Community, Teaching Tolerance & Talking Race Resources

Calendar of Collections

Charter School Manual

Charter School Payment Calendar

Charter Sector Updates

CSO School FAQs

Enrollment Codes

NEXT NEWSLETTER

Click here to view the CSO September 2022 Newsletter. We encourage you to share this sign-up link with colleagues who wish to become newsletter subscribers!

Please email the CSO at charter[email protected] if you have feedback, questions, submissions, and/or if you would like to have your school or one of your scholars featured in an upcoming CSO newsletter.

October 3, 2022

Greetings Sector Leaders,

I hope that you and your school communities are enjoying the cooler weather as we get into October. We know that the start of the school year has brought with it new challenges, and we want to offer our deep appreciation for all of the work you do to create and maintain safe spaces for students, staff, and your entire school communities, despite upticks in gun violence all across the City.

We are also grateful for the time you took to engage with us in our Fall Convening last week. As follow-up to that conversation, convening materials can be accessed via the links that follow. We are providing both the Fall 2022 Convening slidedeck and supplemental materials from the City of Philadelphia Office of Information Technology and Mayor’s Office of Education. We look forward to keeping the lines of communication open with you, particularly to the extent that you have feedback to share with us regarding proposed Framework updates and/or if you are interested in participating in our upcoming PLC focused on climate and culture. As always, if there is an opportunity for the CSO to be helpful, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Thank you for all that you do in service of students.

Sincerely,

Peng Chao

Acting Chief, Charter Schools

Charter School Feature: Mastery Hardy Williams

You

Congratulations to Mastery Hardy Williams senior Telicia Darius, who was named Philadelphia's 2022 Youth Poet Laureate! An article about Telicia's amazing accomplishment can be accessed here.

Calendar of Collections

The Calendar of collections for SY 2022-23 can be accessed here. Please refer to the following reminders and deadlines for the months of October and November:

Submissions for All Schools

SPR Phase II Data Packet: Awaiting updates from the District’s Performance Office, but this submission will likely have an October due date. We will be in communication with the sector as soon as this information is confirmed.
Current Year Approved Board Minutes- Quarter 1: Tuesday, November 1, 2022
Board Bylaws: Tuesday, November 1, 2022

Website Review Reminders for All Schools

Board of Trustees Roster: Saturday, October 1, 2022
Board Website: Saturday, October 8, 2022
Board Contact Information: Monday, November 7, 2022

SDP 2022-23 School Selection Process

For SY 2022-23, counselors at non-District schools will be able to gain access to School Mint Enroll, the District’s School Selection application.

Parents/guardians must initiate the application process for their students, and counselors will be able to monitor, modify, and submit applications on behalf of students at your school. This will enhance charter counselors’ ability to provide direct support to students at your school that wish to participate in School Selection. Please note: any student participating in the school selection process coming from a charter school will need to have information uploaded on their behalf from a charter school counselor. Applications are due from families by Friday, November 4.

In order to gain access to SchoolMint Enroll, school leaders should complete the form linked here to nominate up to two Counselors (or staff members that play a similar role in your school) to gain access to the system. Counselors will then receive a webinar with a quiz that they must pass before access will be granted.

For additional information on the District’s School Selection process, please visit the District’s School Selection website, linked here. Questions can be directed to [email protected].

Final New Charter Application Webinar

The CSO will host one more informational webinar on Friday, October 7 at 11:00 AM regarding the New Charter Application process for those interested in opening a new charter school. Registration is required, and the links are available on the new charter application page of the CSO's website.

School Information Sheets

All schools are encouraged to review their individual school sheet that shares key staff contact information. School sheets support the CSO by ensuring critical information is shared with appropriate personnel in a timely manner. If you are in need of the link to your school sheet, please reach out to [email protected].

SY 2022-23 User Verification

There are still a number of schools that have not provided user verification updates for this year. The CSO wants to ensure school-based staff have no delays or disruptions to system access related to student data or District operations services. As such, charter school leaders and operations contacts should continue to verify SY 2022-23 school-specific users for SDP systems including Infinite Campus, Compass, and Payments.

Questions about the user verification process, including requests for links to school-specific and network-specific user information, can be directed to [email protected].

End-Dating Requests

The CSO recognizes some schools have had difficulty getting timely responses regarding student end-dating requests, and we apologize on behalf of the District for disruptions to students that may result, including coordinating appropriate transportation services.

As much as possible, schools are encouraged to contact sending schools directly to request a student be end-dated. If a sending school has not been responsive, the CSO has been assisting with escalating end-date requests.

While the CSO does not have the ability to end-date students, schools seeking additional support after attempting to contact sending schools should send requests to [email protected] with all applicable student information: name, DOB, ID number, sending school, and effective end-date. The CSO will work to escalate requests for processing as soon as possible.

Office of Special Finance Updates

The updated charter payment calendar for SY 2022-23 can be found here and in the Resources for Schools sidebar of this month’s Newsletter. It will remain linked in the Resources for Schools section throughout the school year. As a reminder: monthly payments beginning in October are based on enrollment information in Infinite Campus (total enrollment as well as enrollment of special education students based on current IEPs). It is critical that Infinite Campus is updated timely in order for payments to be accurate. The Office of Special Finance has prepared the slides linked here, which provide more information about charter payment calculations.