Colorado Charter Schools

About

In the state of Colorado charter schools are public schools that operate via a contract with an authorizer such as the local school district or, in some cases, the Colorado Charter School Institute. Our office administers the Colorado Charter School Startup and Implementation grant, which provides technical assistance to charter schools and authorizers, processes waiver requests for the State Board of Education, collects data on charter schools, produces special topic studies and the state evaluation of charter schools, and responds to questions from the general public. See more information on the CCSP Grant.

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News & Updates

Nominate a teacher for the 2024 Colorado Teacher of the Year

Do you know an exceptionally dedicated, knowledgeable, and skilled K-12 teacher? Nominate them to apply for the 2024 Colorado Teacher of the Year award by Monday, May 15. Each year the Colorado Teacher of the Year Program honors an outstanding K-12 classroom teacher. The selected teacher will automatically become Colorado’s nominee for the National Teacher of the Year Program. To nominate a teacher, visit the Colorado Teacher of the Year webpage. Once nominated, the nominee is invited to submit their application by Thursday, June 2.

State Advisory Council for Parent Involvement in Education committee vacancies

The State Advisory Council for Parent Involvement in Education has openings for the following committee positions:

A parent who serves on an accountability committee in Congressional District 2.
A parent who serves on an accountability committee in Congressional District 3.
A parent who serves on an accountability committee in Congressional District 4.
A parent who serves on an accountability committee in Congressional District 7.
A representative from a state-based nonprofit organization that specializes in promoting the involvement of parents of traditionally underserved populations.
A representative from a nonprofit organization that specializes in promoting the involvement of parents of students with disabilities.

Applications are due Friday, June 2. View the SACPIE webpage for additional information and to apply for an open position. For More Information, Contact: Darcy Hutchins; Office of Family School and Community Partnerships; Phone: 303-562-8175; Email: hutchins_d@cde.state.co.us

Office of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education virtual workshop series

The Office of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education will offer a virtual workshop series delivered by authors Tan Huynh and Beth Skelton. The series is based on Huynh's and Skelton's book, Long-Term Success for Experienced Multilinguals and focuses on serving experienced multilinguals, the asset-based term for long-term English learners.
The workshops will consist of four live, multi-session book-study courses for educators teaching grades four through 12 who want to provide equitable learning experiences for experienced multilinguals. Upon completion of the sessions, participants will be eligible for 10 hours of CTE credit. The workshops will be offered in June and again in the fall. To learn more and to sign up for one of the two workshop series, visit the Professional Learning Opportunities webpage. For more information contact, Alice Collins at collins_al@cde.state.co.us, or Janet Turnmeyer at turnmeyer_j@cde.state.co.us

Charter School Governing Board Modules Updates

Charter School Board Training Modules have been updated and are now accessible on the Colorado League of Charter Schools learning management system (Freestone). We encourage all charter school governing board members to access these modules moving forward.

We recognize that many charter school boards, including CCSP sub-grantees, likely began and/or completing courses in the legacy training environment (eNet Learning). Schools will have access to these modules through September 30, 2023. Please see the latest guidance available for both platforms: Freestone | eNet Learning

Now available: Free access to Zearn Math to accelerate math learning

As a part of Colorado’s statewide investment in math learning acceleration, Colorado educators can receive free access to Zearn Math for the 2023–24 school year. Zearn Math is a top-rated K–8 math learning platform that educators can use to catch kids up and move them forward in math.
All Colorado districts that opt in will have free access to instructional materials, training for educators, materials to support families and caregivers, and resources to flexibly implement Zearn Math during core math, intervention blocks, after-school and summer learning. To learn more about Zearn Math, sign up for an upcoming live webinar.

Early Childhood Council Leadership Alliance (ECCLA) Scholarship and Grant Opportunities

High quality early childhood settings begin with well-trained and well-prepared educators. The Early Childhood Council Leadership Alliance (ECCLA) currently offers several state-wide scholarship and grant opportunities for students who would like to earn a degree, certificate, or credential in early childhood education, and for home-based providers who are seeking funding to start up, expand, or maintain consistent operations for their family child care home facility.

ECCLA’s Back to Work Scholarship Program provides 1:1 career and college navigation and scholarship awards up to $2,500.00 that can be used for several different types of expenses - books, supplies, child care, and more!
ECCLA’s Concurrent Enrollment Scholarship is for high school students interested in earning college credits and experience in Early Childhood Education.
ECCLA’s Early Childhood Coach Credential Scholarship is available to help recipients complete the training requirements to earn a Colorado Coach Credential.
ECCLA’s Family Child Care Home Improvement Grant is available to help home-based providers start up, expand, or maintain consistent operations for their family child care home facility.
ECCLA’s Rural R.U.N. Scholarship Program provides career counseling and tuition support to early childhood professionals in rural communities seeking to earn early childhood credentials like ERS®, CLASS®, National Director Credential, Coaching Credential, and any of the ECE College Certificates.

ECCLA’s T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Colorado Scholarship Program offers early childhood professionals a pathway to pursue higher education.

Opportunity, Access and Inclusion Resources

'We Are One Community’ How a charter-district compact in Colorado’s Roaring Fork Valley built bridges, trust and family access

Relationships between district and charter school leaders are often fraught and framed as a competition for scarce resources. But when educators view themselves as colleagues who share a common interest in serving students and families equitably, lines of communication and cooperation can emerge.

The story of how district and charter school leaders in Colorado’s mountainous Roaring Fork Valley developed a compact to strengthen their relationships is chronicled in a case study from Alan Gottlieb for Gates Family Foundation.

Equality versus Equity: Harvard EdCast

Longtime educator Jeffrey Duncan-Andrade thinks schools have been focused on equality for too long and need to fundamentally rethink the way they do things. He says a focus on equality is not producing the results that schools really need — providing all students with a quality education. While visiting schools many years ago, he noticed educators used the terms "equality" and "equity" interchangeably. Then, he started tracking what that actually means. The data clearly demonstrates that aiming for equality doesn't work. What would schools look like if they were, instead, truly equitable places? Click here to learn more

Social-Emotional Learning Won’t Happen Without a Culturally Relevant Start: an EdWeek article by teacher Christina Torres

“Educators have the unique responsibility of delivering content as well as helping students to move in the direction of personal growth and development. This movement happens best when there is a common frame of reference or starting point for working toward the destination.” Click here to read more

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