Greetings from the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board and our first newsletter to you as charter school leaders, authorizers and patrons.

By law, the Oklahoma Statewide Charter Schools Board became operational on July 1. Among our statutory responsibilities are to authorize charter schools, provide oversight to the charters we authorize, provide training for all charter schools and all other charter authorizers in Oklahoma, and consult with the executive and legislative branches on policy and legislation regarding charter schools. This is the first time in our state’s history that there been one state agency to provide a voice for the Oklahoma charter community and to be singularly focused on ensuring charter school and charter authorizers have the tools, training and information needed to provide charter school students with the best education possible.

In the coming weeks, more information will be posted on our website and shared with you through this newsletter and Charter Connect news bulletins. To make sure you and your teams are always in the loop, make sure and bookmark our website www.oklahoma.gov/scsb.html and forward this email to your colleagues and/or employees and encourage them to subscribe so they, too, receive news about Oklahoma charter schools. At the bottom of this newsletter, is a subscribe button for people to whom you forward this email.

If my staff or I can ever be of assistance to you, please do not hesitate to reach out. We exist to strengthen the charter community in Oklahoma and to better serve the students of our great state. Our agency’s communications director is Shelly Hickman, shelly.hickman@scsb.ok.gov. Reach out to her to be directed to the best person in our agency to assist you when you need it and to share the great news occurring in your schools when it happens so that we can assist you in getting the word out.

Until next time, please accept my warmest wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving for you, your loved ones and your school communities.

Dr. Rebecca Wilkinson

Executive Director, Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board

Oklahoma Charter Schools Conference March 6-7 in Oklahoma City!

Register, save the date and book your room for the inaugural Oklahoma Charter Schools Conference presented by the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board. This free, two-day conference aims to drive transformational educational improvement in Oklahoma charter school districts – the future of Oklahoma’s public school choice movement.

ALL Oklahoma charter superintendents, their boards of education and their instructional and operational teams are highly encouraged to register and attend this conference. It is an opportunity to collaborate with state leaders and state and national learning experts who use innovation and ingenuity to drive educational outcomes and ensure students achieve their highest potential. The conference also will provide state-mandated training for all charter authorizers and charter school board members.

Governor Kevin Stitt, Secretary of Education Nellie Sanders and lawmakers in key positions impacting charter schools are already scheduled to attend and present. This is an opportunity for the charter school community to show their unity and resolution in making Oklahoma charter schools the catalyst for meaningful educational improvement in our great state, and this conference will lay the foundation for that effort.

Visit our conference web page to register, book your rooms and get more information. There is no limit for the number of individuals from your school who can register, and our hope is that each charter school will bring the key members of its administrative team and all its board members.

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