Last month, CSDC welcomed 60 new California charter schools to the Leadership Intensive (LI), an annual summer training program CSDC has held for over 20 years.
Representing charter schools from across California, this year’s cohort received training on a wide-range of leadership and management topics, as well as mentorship from 6 experienced charter school leaders.
In this guest article, one of this year's mentor, Gayle Nadler, Executive Director of the Multicultural Learning Center, collated key takeaways from the whole group and their time at the 4-day program.
We hope these insights are helpful reminders to all charter school leaders, whether you’ve attended LI yet or not!
At the Leadership Intensive, California charter school leaders learn everything there is to know about charter schools—Yes, everything!
It’s a jam-packed week of learning that covers topics from operations to finance, accountability to employee and education law.
This year’s cohort brought together new leaders from San Diego to Crescent City along with six seasoned charter leaders as their mentors.
This is a brief summary of some of the key high-level takeaways that this year’s cohort identified as a reminder to themselves when they dive into the new school year:
- It all starts with our school mission and vision. In holding true to the innovations of our charter schools in the face of compliance, we must focus on telling our story through student outcomes and the unique programming our school brings to the community. Part of our story includes the funding inequities in charter schools and the many ways we do more with less towards an impact on student success. This story can be told by every person on our campus and in our community. Perfect that elevator pitch and spread it widely! Who are we and why do we exist?
- We are bright individually and brilliant collectively! We have unique backgrounds, talents, skills, and widely different charter schools, AND we are a charter school community focused on school choice and positive outcomes for kids and their families. When we weave together our individual school stories, we demonstrate the power of the charter school movement in California. As thought leaders, we each have special contributions to offer public education. Our shared purpose allows us to band together to advocate for charter schools and to collaborate in our effort to change the landscape of public education.
- We are leading multigenerational school teams requiring us to differentiate and adapt our leadership styles. Taking the time to understand the differences and similarities across different generations in our workforce will allow us to better create a sense of belonging and to support growth and sustainability in our schools. Since people are the most valuable assets in our organizations, leveraging staff strengths and fostering a sense of understanding and empathy is critical for school leaders to be successful.
- As Servant Leaders we take a “we” versus “I” approach to leadership. We listen to and learn from the perspectives of our families, staff, and school partners and make equitable decisions for our schools. We take responsibility for the communities we serve and engage them in thinking adaptively when solving problems that impact us all. We rely on the power of relationships while expressing gratitude and focusing on the needs of those we serve.
As the mentor groups continue to meet over the course of the year, we will share outcomes of our collective work in “passing the baton,” and strengthening the transfer of leadership in charter schools across the state.
More information and registration for the 2025 Leadership Intensive will be made available in Spring 2025. In the meanwhile, be sure to join the waitlist and receive the latest news and updates on next year's program.
