Growing the number of high-quality public charter schools in Nevada.
Great Schools for Nevada Charter School Program
Great Schools for Nevada is a federal Charter School Program (CSP) Grant facilitated by Opportunity 180 to lead the launch and expansion of high-quality public charter schools across our state. As a public education champion and advocacy organization based in Southern Nevada, one key portion of our work is to seek out, vet, and support innovative leaders and high-performing school models. The CSP Grant represents significant funds available to help Nevada expand opportunities for students to attend excellent public charter schools that prepare them for both college and career. The Great Schools for Nevada project has three objectives:- Increase the number of high-quality new, replicated, or expanded public charter schools serving the most at-risk student populations;
- Establish Nevada’s charter sector as a leader in authorizing quality and academic performance;
- Evaluate, collect, and widely disseminate the successes and lessons of highly-quality charter schools to impact the broader public education system.
How to Apply for a Federal Charter School Start-Up Grant
Overview
Great Schools for Nevada Federal CSP will provide subgrants to qualified public charter schools to provide financial support for the initial implementation of expanding, replicating, or opening a public charter school.- “Expand” is defined as an increase in the student count of an existing school by a significant amount.
- “Replicate” means to open a new charter school, or a new campus of a high-quality charter school, based on the educational model of an existing high-quality charter school under an additional charter.
- A new public charter school is either a new start-up school that did not previously exist or a charter school that has substantially changed its model and/or staff in order to increase academic performance as part of a turnaround process.
Is my school eligible?
Eligible applicants must have an approved Charter application from a Nevada authorizer in order to receive Federal CSP dollars under this program. This will be a condition of any subgrantee award if not already met. Use the following checklist below to determine if your school is eligible.- Do you have an approved Charter application from a Nevada authorizer?
- Do you have an effective and clear school model to meet the needs of students in greatest need?
- Do you agree to be both incorporated in the State of Nevada as a non-profit entity and have received tax-exempt status (501c3) from the IRS (or proof of 1023 submission for IRS status) before funding is received?
- Do you have a demonstrated need for start-up funding for either an 18-month planning period (Year 0) and/or the first two years of operation (Year 1 and Year 2) for up to 24 months? Please note that the total number of months cannot exceed 42.
- Do you have an enrollment policy that meets the state and federal statutes?
- Do you meet the federal definition of a public charter school in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to be eligible for grant funds under the CSP?
- If you represent a replication or expansion school, can you provide up to three years of academic data showing scores higher than the state averages for ELA and Math for growth and proficiency, as defined by ESSA and show approval to open an additional campus granted by an authorizer?
What is the Application process? When will it happen?
The competition for funding will launch April 3, 2023 and close at 11:59 p.m. May 8, 2023. Please read the Request for Applications document containing eligibility requirements, and outlining the application process in detail. Schools can apply for the Great Schools for Nevada CSP Subgrant if they have an authorizer-approved charter or plan to have an authorizer-approved charter by the time award funds are dispersed in November 2023. Below outlines the stages of our application process:- Eligibility and Letter of Intent Stage - Schools should submit an eligibility form via our online application portal, and the evaluative letter of intent by 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, May 8, 2023. Schools that do not submit a letter of intent and eligibility form will not be eligible to apply for CSP funds in this cycle. Schools will be notified if they are invited to apply on May 24, 2023.
- Application Stage - Schools that have been invited to submit an application, or declined to enter the application stage, will be notified on the morning of May 24, 2023. The application will be available for schools to edit and upload documents through June 22, 2023. All elements of the application should be submitted by 11:59 p.m. on June 23, 2023, Pacific Standard Time.
- Review Stage - Applications will be in review from June 30, 2023 through August 1, 2023.
- Applicant Capacity Interviews - Applicant Capacity Interviews are 90 minutes and are an opportunity for reviewers to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the school’s founding team and the school in detail before final decisions are announced. This process supplements the initial application review and influences reviewers’ final scores. Applicant Capacity Interviews will be held from August 8 to August 11, 2023.
- Award Notification - Schools will be notified if they have received the award on August 22, 2023.
- First Awardee Reimbursement - Schools who receive the CSP award will submit their first reimbursement request by October 10, 2023 and reimbursement funds will be dispersed by November 15, 2023.
Materials to Utilize for the Application
- Request for Application
- Eligibility and LOI Form
- CSP Letter of Intent
- LOI Rubric
- CSP School Budget template <-- there is a budget instructions tab in this worksheet
- Budget Narrative Example
- Launching a Public Charter School FAQ
Overview of Grant Application Timeline
- April 3, 2023 - LOI & eligibility form live
- May 1, 2023 - Subgrant pre-applicant info session, 3:30 p.m. PST. Sign up for this session by clicking here.
- May 4, 2023 - LOI & eligibility office hours
- May 8, 2023 - LOI & eligibility forms due
- May 24, 2023 - Applicants are notified if moving to application stage/ applications open
- May 31, 2023 - Subgrant budget technical assistance
- June 22, 2023 - Subgrant application due (application portal closes)
- August 8 - 11, 2023 - Capacity interviews
- August 18, 2023 - CSP Award & Decline letters issued
- August 25, 2023 - SPCSA will announce school decisions
- August 28, 2023 - CSP subgrant awardee intro call
- September 6-8, 2023 - Funds release meetings with subgrantees: goals and budget review
- September 14 or 15, 2023 - Basecamp training
- October 10, 2023 - First reimbursement due
- October 12, 2023 - Post-award Technical Assistance
- October 20, 2023 - Post-award tasks due
- November 15, 2023 - Reimbursement dispersed
Registration for the CSP Information Session on Monday, May 1, at 3:30 p.m. PST, is now open and we’re ready to count you in! Click this link to register.
Please Note:
We strongly encourage you to attend this info session if you are interested in applying for the CSP Grant, as we will talk through items such as eligibility, the timeline, and award determination.
If you are attending and will represent multiple schools, please indicate each school name in your registration form.
Interested in reviewing CSP applications? Join our Peer Review Panel.
To ensure subgrants are awarded to the most capable applicants, each proposal for a CSP subgrant will be reviewed by an external Peer Review panel. The Independent Peer Review Panel will be composed of teams of reviewers, selected through an application process. These reviewers will receive training on the effective use of a Peer Review Rubric to rate sub-grant proposals. Individuals selected as peer reviewers must be well informed regarding education, education policy, evaluation, and operations of public charter schools. If you are interested in becoming a peer reviewer in the future cycle, please email greatschoolsnvcsp@opportunity180.org. Your email should include an attached resume (in PDF format) with a cover letter in the body of your email. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis in concurrence with the current Grant Application timeline.CSP Technical Assistance Resources
- Recruiting and Marketing Session, presented by Lyman Miller - Bloomwell Group (5/31/22) - Access the presentation deck and the session recording.
- Charter School Board Governance Training, presented by Education Board Partners (6/28/22) - Access the presentation deck and the session recording.
- CSP Technical Assistance Continuation Award Training, presented by the CSP Management Team (7/26/22) - Access the presentation deck and the session recording.
- Committee Structure for Charter School Boards, presented by BoardOnTrack (2/8/23) - Access the presentation deck and the session recording.