CSMC Charter School Catalog 2015

New School Development & Renewals Financial Back OfďŹ ce Services Data & Compliance

CSMC

Bringing Choice to Back Office CSMC IS MORE THAN A BACK OFFICE, WE ARE YOUR PARTNER IN SUCCESS Why Use a Back Office Provider?

Are you opening your charter school to run a business or to lead a world-class school? Many charter school leaders do not realize the depth and complexity involved in running a charter school, and for most charter schools throughout the country, using a back office company is the cost effective way to meet the financial and operational needs of your school.

• Access to financial experts • Increase your school’s bandwidth • Lower your costs • Maintain decision making control • Ensure accuracy in data and reporting Charter school authorizers and state agencies place enormous pressure on schools to maintain accurate books, payroll records, and compliance and assessment data reports. Using an effective back office company like CSMC can allow you to focus on your main priorities, your students and your educational program.

Why CSMC? CSMC has been assisting charter schools with operational and financial support since 2000. We are the nation’s largest and one of the oldest charter school back office providers.

Our mission is to ensure a laser-like focus on improving efficiencies and saving your school money. We do that by providing a range of cost effective and high quality business services – bringing the experience and scale of an organization that has committed years to helping grow the charter movement across the nation.

Our expert staff of charter school founders, board members, CPAs, school data analysts, and more allows us to offer a depth of expertise at a far lower cost than a charter school could fit in its own budget. We manage the necessary financial and operational systems to keep your school operating at peak performance, all while your school’s leadership still retains full control over the operations and decision making.

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HELPING THE CHARTER MOVEMENT SUCCEED ONE SCHOOL AT A TIME

Services TableCSMC of Contents Financial Services Charter Development and Renewal • Bookkeeping Payroll • Charter Vision Academy – On-demand charter3-4 petition training Charter• School Development Training • Accounts payable/receivable

• Budget creation • Authorizer advocacy and negotiation support

• Budgeting and cash-flow projections

• Governance best practice alignment

Back Offi ceReporting Financial Services Compliance and

• Power School Implementation and Support

• Local/State/Federal reporting

• Student data assessment solutions

• ADA Tracking and reporting

• Online student enrollment system

Charter Renewals

• AuditGovernance support

& Strategic Planning Support School Software Support

Charter Vision Web Portal

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• Replication strategies

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7-8 9-12

School Outreach & Marketing Support 13 • Charter Vision© - 24 Hour web-based financial portal

• Grant tracking for expense reports

Financing • Monthly financial boardSupport reports

14 Governance and Strategic Planning • Student Longitudinal State Reports • Governance training for administrators and15-16 board members PowerSchool Student Information System • Strategic planning guidance Human Resources and Payroll CALPADS 17 • Finance training for staff and board members

• Teachers and Staff retirement system reporting

CSMC Client • Benefits • Payroll Tax Testimonial • Employee handbook

• Replication guidance for schools looking to grow18

OARS Student Data Assessment Support

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Consulting Services & About CSMC

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PORT OF LOS ANGELES HIGH SCHOOL

CSMC Impact

“CSMC offers flexible and accurate services- there is no limit to their attentiveness and care for the success of our school.” ~Jim Cross

• Over 50,000 K-12 students are currently enrolled in CSMC supported schools • Nearly 5,000 school employees receive payroll and benefit support through CSMC • Thousands of training hours offered at school sites, regional meetings, conferences, and for state associations

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Charter School Development Training WEB-BASED

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ON DEMAND

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RIGHT INFORMATION

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RIGHT TIME

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RIGHT PLACE

Charter Vision Academy from CSMC You need quality training to launch an excellent school. But it is challenging to find the time and money to attend live workshops and trainings; especially when faced with busy schedules, shrinking budgets, rising travel costs, and tough economic times.

CSMC is helping to break down the barriers between excellent educators and their dream of opening a high quality charter school. That’s why CSMC has brought Charter Vision Academy on demand and right to your fingertips. Charter Vision Academy is available in a convenient and affordable online environment, and provides your team with the expertise, training, and resources to turn your vision into an approvable charter petition.

• 24/7 web-based on-demand access

• Downloadable templates and guides

• Based on 20 years of charter school best practices • Work as a team or individually

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• Speed up your team’s ability to draft a petition

• Watch, stop, rewind, replay, and come back tomorrow

HELPING THE CHARTER MOVEMENT SUCCEED ONE SCHOOL AT A TIME

KING CHAVEZ PUBLIC SCHOOLS

“The experience they [CSMC] bring to our has helped us “The experienceand andknowledge knowledgethat that they [CSMC] bring to schools our schools has helped us expand beyond - we now upup to to 6 schools.” expand beyond our ourimagination imaginationweare are now 6 schools.”

~Tim Wolf ~Tim Wolf

Charter School Budget Support We collaborate with your Budget school leadership team to create an Charter School Support

Downloadable Templates & Sample Language Downloadable Templates

should expect to for receive. operating budget the school covering all revenues the school

leaders developed numerous andstarted, academic best Over the have past 20 years, since charteroperational schools first school

should expect to receive.

practices. reinventnumerous the wheel?operational and academic best leaders haveWhy developed

operating budget the school school leadership covering allteam revenues the an school We collaborate withforyour to create

• School start-up budget • 5 Year operating budget projection • School start-up budget • Full breakdown of projected expenses • 5 Year operating budget projection • Cash flow statement for all 5 years • Full breakdown of projected expenses • Budget narrative to include in petition • Cash flow statement for all 5 years • Easy to follow spreadsheets • Budget narrative to include in petition

the past 20Language years since charter schools first started, school &Over Sample

• ArticlesWhy of Incorporation • Corporate By-laws practices. reinvent the wheel?

Serviceofplans for special student populations ••Articles Incorporation • Corporate By-laws Admissions Suspension and Expulsion policies ••Service plans policies for special •students populations Authorizer policies MOUs ••Admissions

• Suspension and Expulsion policies

• Authorizer Memoranda of Understanding

Training Videos •Online Easy to follow spreadsheets Our custom video presentations range from 30-60 minutes long and take you through the relevant petition information,

Online background,Training and context Videos that every charter school developer needs to know.

Our custom state videolegal presentations range from 30-60 minutes long and take you through the relevant petition information, • Meeting requirements • Presenting your educational program background, thatvarious every student charter populations school developer to know.

• Addressingand thecontext needs of • needs Creating and measuring school and student outcomes •• Meeting statestructure legal requirements • Presenting youroutreach educational Governance and best practices • School and program admissions • Addressing the needs of various student populations • Governance structure and best practices

• School Finance 101

• Creating and measuring school and student outcomes

• School outreach and admissions

• School Finance 101

Overview of Charter Vision Academy’s On Demand Training CSMC’s charter petition training will cover all the aspects of launching a high quality charter school.

• Fundamental Basics of Charter School Development • Overview of all Required Elements

• Building your Founding Team

• Budget Development

• Fundraising

• Educational Program Breakdown

• Facility Planning

• Community Outreach

YOUR EXPERTISE EXPERTISE LIES LIES IN IN EDUCATING EDUCATING YOUR YOUR STUDENTS YOUR

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Charter Renewal Services

Surviving today’s charter renewal process requires significant time, resources and strategy. Evolving authorizers’ expectations, new state accountability systems and ambiguous student achievement criteria all present great risk and uncertainty during renewal. With CSMC’s renewal experts and experience working with charter authorizers throughout California, we are committed to helping your team ensure a successful charter renewal and new charter term. Our team will identify your school’s individual needs during an initial consultation and can support your school with all the components of the charter renewal process.

• Avoid confusion over accountability measures as we help you understand the authorizer’s perspective.

• Identify potential “hot spots” and provide tactical responses.

• Establish a timeline for petition development and strategic submission dates.

• Integrate Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) goals with transitioning assessment systems and student achievement trends.

• Withstand criticism and provide best responses to authorizer oversight reports and findings.

• Receive advice on capacity interview preparation and bolster governance structure.

• Obtain advocacy through the petition revision process with your authorizer.

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Governance & Strategic Planning HIGH QUALITY CHARTER SCHOOL LEADERSHIP REQUIRES HIGH QUALITY TRAINING Effective charter school leadership is rarely formed, but rather cultivated and developed over time. In order to assure high quality and long-term sustainability, charter schools must invest in the right training and professional development.

Charter Vision Finance Academy CSMC’s Charter Vision Finance Academy gives your team the in-depth training and insight that school leaders and board members need for informed decision making and effective long-term planning.

• State budget overview and outlook • Primary reporting requirements

• Cash flow planning • Annual audits

• Revenue programs • Expense benchmarking • Maximizing revenues & managing expenses

Charter Vision Governance Academy Governance Academy will provide your school leaders with an overview of key state laws, rules and regulations, as well as governance best practices.

• Board roles & responsibilities • Leadership development and best practices • Administrative roles & responsibilities • Brown Act & conflict of interest

Charter Vision Strategic Planning Are you a brand new school and want to make sure you successfully hit the ground running? Is your school where you thought it would be when you opened 4 years ago? Are you ready to replicate? CSMC can help your school develop the short and long-term plans and strategies for your school to emerge as a leader in its community.

• 6 Step Business Plans • Leadership operational focus • Strategic plan guidance • Replication considerations & planning • Strategies for cultivating excellent teachers and leaders

www.csmci.com

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Back Office Financial Services Charter school accounting and bookkeeping can be a very tedious and difficult endeavor.

Every detail must be meticulously accounted for and our staff of CPAs and charter school financial experts have the experience to help your school with all of your financial needs, from creating sustainable budgets to providing audit reports.

This is just a short list of the many back office financial and operational services CSMC can provide your charter school.

Bookkeeping Accurate bookkeeping is the backbone of your fiscal health. Our team will ensure that all financial transactions are accurate and reconciled, enabling you to stay on top of your numbers and make wise spending decisions for the benefit of your students and staff.

• Enterprise level accounting software • Revenue & expense projections

• Board meeting reports • Fiscal training

Accounts Payable/Receivable Proper attention and management of your school’s accounts receivable is vital to making sure that your school maximizes every dollar for which it is eligible. For your school’s accounts payable, CSMC creates a process and solution that works best for your school to maximize efficiency and transparency, and be in line with your financial policy protocols.

• Strict monitoring of all eligible receivables, including restricted accounts • Processing, verifying, & approving submissions for all vendor payables

Budgeting and Cash Flow Projections Our knowledgeable team of budget experts can help you anticipate the needs of your school and set realistic and manageable annual and five-year budgets that will make the most of your limited resources and help you accomplish your goals.

• Multiple budget revisions • Budget as a network of schools or as individual sites

Payroll Services Every member of your team works hard, and compensating them correctly and on time, every time, is an important task. We know that payroll is about more than running checks, and with years of experience working with many payroll companies, we will make sure that this job gets done right.

• Tax filings • Benefits management • Leave accrual tracking • Time and Attendance, including custom coding (Affordable Care Act compliant) • State Teachers’ Retirement System (STRS), Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS) and 403b program assistance, including enrollment and reporting

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Long Term Strategic Financial Planning If your school has a vision of growth for locations, grades served, or to save for that ideal facility, CSMC can help your school create the plan that can make your fiscal aspirations come true in the most responsible and quickest manner possible.

• Facility planning • Long term benefit planning

Compensation & Bonus Analysis Our team can conduct complete assessments of your compensation strategies, including salaries, benefits packages, and bonuses for school leaders or for any or all staff members. This analysis will provide new levels of transparency that will improve staff retention and morale and will give you a solid foundation for future budgeting.

• Executive compensation analysis • Teacher salary comparison with comparable schools

Authorizer Compliance & Reporting In return for your autonomy as a charter school, you are accountable for a variety of required reports to your authorizer designed to ensure compliance with all regulations as well as your charter. We can help you sort out the many deadlines and reports for which you are responsible so that you can remain in good standing.

• Special authorizer fiscal reporting • Authorizer negotiations and meetings

Audit Preparation To avoid an unnecessarily stressful summer, we will prepare you for your audit throughout the year. With the help of our CSMC staff, you will be better positioned for your annual audit, which will result in meeting all state requirements and minimizing the likelihood for any errors and corrections required.

• Continuous support throughout year to assure regulatory compliance • Recommendations for operational policy or procedural change to align with all laws

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www.CharterVision.net

Charter Vision Web Portal Charter Vision is CSMC’s easy to use online portal giving each school 24/7 access to their financial standing and reports. From Cash on Hand, to Revenue Year to Date, to Monthly Expenditures, every financial report needed to lead a cutting edge charter school is available at the tip of your fingers.

New Features: 1. REAL-TIME FINANCIAL REPORT ACCESS Get 24/7 access to your school’s vital financial reports in real time. Track accounts receivable and payable, monitor revenue and expenses by category, view paid invoices, cash flow projections and more.

2. COMPLIANCE CALENDAR Never miss a state reporting deadline again! On CSMC’s Compliance Calendar, you can view your charter school’s annual state and federal reporting calendar, with linked information for greater detail, assignment of duties, and stored documents for evidence of submission.

3. SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscriptions have been improved to give you even more control. On top of the timed option, you can now automatically receive reports in your inbox based upon financial events, such as when a financial period is closed. This allows you to receive a report with even more precision, which will reflect the financial updates that you desire.

5. VENDOR SEARCH Know the name or the amount of a vendor and want to search for invoices and checks?

Our Universal Vendor Search allows you to do just that. No longer will you have to search through reports for a specific vendor. You can quickly and easily find and download the invoices from the tool.

6. FISCAL TRANSPARENCY LIKE NO OTHER Charter Vision is not just for your school leader or business manager; all key stakeholders can get up to date access to your school’s financial data.

Charter Vision is free to CSMC clients, so key staff members, board members, auditors, or anyone you assign can have their own unique logon.

4. CUSTOMIZABLE DASHBOARDS Customize your Charter Vision dashboard to reflect the exact reports that matter most to you. Financial reports, student information, cash on hand are just a few of the available widgets with which you can populate your dashboard.

Every user can set their own dashboard settings.

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STUDENT DATA DASHBOARD • Frequently absent students list • Fiscal impact of absences • Student demographic totals • LCFF & special program eligible totals

WEEKLY RECAP EMAIL Don’t have time to log into Charter Vision? We now offer a weekly recap email that will be waiting for you in your inbox every week.

This recap will display four summary points: • Weekly Check Activity, • Book Balance, • Year to Date Fiscal Activity, • and Financial Health.

FINANCIAL REPORTS DASHBOARD • Sort reports by total CMO or by individual school sites Popular reports include: • Actual to Budget Summary • Expenses by Category • Income Statement • Revenue by Category • Restricted Funds Tracking • Check Register

www.CharterVision.net

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SAMPLE REPORT - EXPENSE BY CATEGORY

1 1.

2.

2

NEED Charter Vision 3.0 logo

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3.

4.

4

1. 1.

CALENDAR CALENDARPERIODS PERIODS View specifi c expense-by-category reports by choosing beginning and ending View specific expense-by-category reports by choosing beginning and ending months & fiscal year. months & fiscal year.

2. 2.

EXPENSE EXPENSESTATISTICS STATISTICS easy-to-read chart chart which listsyour the expenses category in both dollar AnAn easy-to-read displays school’sbyline item expenses by and individual percentage andbytotal amounts.and percentage of category. amounts, totalterms dollar category,

CHARTS&&GRAPHS GRAPHS 3. 3.

CHARTS

pie charts quickly the summarize the by expenses by category.

PieEasy-to-read charts quickly summarize expenses category.

Click onClick anyonpie slice a pie slice to see additional detail. to drill deeper into that account.

VIEWYOUR YOUR SOURCE SOURCE DOCUMENT 4.4.VIEW DOCUMENT

Now youcan canimmediately immediately view & see exactly what what was paid Now you viewyour yourinvoices invoices & see exactly wasfor. paid.

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Charter Vision for your tablet or phone

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Student Outreach & Marketing CSMC understands that one of the biggest challenges to opening and growing a successful charter school is marketing the school and recruiting students. Most charter school leaders are not experts in marketing or graphic design, so CSMC has worked to create an almost turn-key marketing and outreach solution for your school.

CSMC has worked with charter school leaders and professional graphic designers to create a collection of templates and guides ready to be rolled out for your school.

• Postcards & flyers • Door hangers

• Tri-fold brochures • Marketing checklists

• Social media tips • Press release templates

A professional and customized marketing campaign is only days away with CSMC Marketing. We have partnered with experienced graphic artists who can customize your desired collateral piece, and at a very competitive rate. No need to buy dozens of expensive stock images or go back and forth with a graphic artist who does not understand the needs of a charter school.

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Financing In today’s economic climate, securing charter school facility financing is not an easy feat. The ability to secure financing is perhaps one of the foremost factors influencing whether or not a new building is in your school’s future.

CSMC has facilitated dozens of facility financing projects and cash flow transactions for its clients.

We can help you: • Start developing your project and analyze your financing needs.

• Identify the type of financing that best suits your needs from New Markets Tax Credits (NMTCs), Tax-exempt Bond Financing, conventional financing, lease to purchase options, and short-term financing.

• Get introduced to lenders and financiers, including CSMC partners that specialize in charter school finance.

• Better understand lender jargon and help your school make the best impression on your lender throughout the approval process.

• Track the reports required by your lender. Automatically provide statements to your lender through Charter Vision 4.0.

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Power School Power STUDENTINFORMATION INFORMATIONSYSTEM SYSTEMSHOULD SHOULDFREE FREEUP UPYOUR YOURRESOURCES, RESOURCES NOT - NOTTAKE TAKEAWAY AWAYFROM FROMTHEM THEM A ASTUDENT CSMC observed several of clients its clients have a positive experience setting implementing their Student CSMC observed thatthat several of its diddid notnot have a positive experience setting upup andand implementing their Student Information Information System (SIS). For some, the lack of technology personnel and training was the problem. For others, it was

System For asome, the lacksystem of technology training was the problem. For others, it was trying to make a distrying(SIS). to make district-level work forpersonnel a charterand school. trict-level system work for a charter school.

CSMC’s partnership with Pearson’s PowerSchool program gives you all the benefits of an effective SIS system without

CSMC’s partnership Pearson’s PowerSchool program you all benefitsand of an effective SISa system the steep learningwith curve, high expense, and risk typicallygives required to the implement manage such system.without the steep learning curve, high expense, and risk typically required to implement and manage such a system.

POWERTEACHER MOBILE

POWERTEACHER MOBILE NOW AVAILABLE AVAILABLEFOR FORYOUR YOUR NOW TABLET ORSMARTPHONE SMARTPHONE IPAD OR

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HELPING THE CHARTER CHARTER MOVEMENT MOVEMENTSUCCEED, SUCCEED ONE ONE SCHOOL SCHOOL AT AT AA TIME TIME HELPING THE

KING CHAVEZ PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATIONS PUBLIC SCHOOLS

“The experience and knowledge that they [CSMC] bring to our schools has helped us “CSMC has opened up a wealth of resources for our young, growing organization. expand beyond our imagination- we are now up to 6 schools.”

We appreciate the partnership we have formed and their ongoing efforts to meet our needs. We just wish that we had started using CSMC sooner!” ~Tim Wolf - Tisha Blackwood-Freitas

Charter School Budget Support We PowerSchool collaborate with your school leadership team to create an Features

Downloadable Templates Sample Language No&On-Site Tech Required:

Oversetup the past years since charter schools operating budget the school revenues the school • Initial • Student and for parent portal incovering multiplealllanguages and20 implementation performed by first started, school leaders havetrained developed numerous should expect to component receive. for teachers • GradeBook professionally CSMC staff operational and academic best

• • • • • •

School budget access for teacher and admin • iPad start-up and smartphone 5•Year operating budget projection Scheduling component Full breakdown of and projected expensesmanagement • Family, health, immunization Cash flow statement for all 5 years • Built-in state reports Budget narrative to include in petition • Faculty management Easy to follow spreadsheets • More features being released each year

Online Training Videos Charter School Specific:

practices.

Why reinvent wheel?

• School site or online staff the training available for

• Articles of Incorporation administrators and teachers

• Corporate By-laws Servicemonitoring plans for special student populations • No• system or maintenance required • Admissions • phone, Suspension and • CSMC HelpDeskpolicies available via email, or Expulsion web portalpolicies • Authorizer MOUs

Lower Costs: • No capital technology investments

Our custom video presentations range from 30-60 minutes long and take youup-front throughcosts the relevant • Reduce for staff petition training information, • No state reporting expert required at the charter school

background, and context that every charter school developer needs• toLower know.cost of initial system implementation

• • •

• School specific reports and dashboards

Meeting state legal requirements • Presenting your educational programof knowing your data is being housed on • Security • Access to CSMC built customizations Addressing the needs of various student populations • Creatingdedicated and measuring school and student outcomes and enterprise class servers • Custom templates and report cards Governance structure and best practices • School outreach and admissions • School Finance 101 • Get the support you need when you need it • Access to task specific tools and resources

• Adjust SIS to meet your school’s specific needs

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CALPADS For many schools in California, CALPADS introduces a challenge in collecting and maintaining quality data. The data reported is used for many purposes, including funding calculations for various State and Federal programs. CSMC can assist you through the entire CALPADS process and assure your school meets all data collection deadlines.

Managing data integrity can be especially challenging. There are a many areas within a Student Information System that need to be populated with data. Often times, this can cause a lot of confusion. CSMC can simplify this process for you with custom validation tools that help you locate missing or incorrect data required for CALPADS. Our custom tools allow your office staff to view errors and make corrections all on one page, making the process much easier for your staff.

Services Offered • Preparation of all four Fall 1 extracts per school (SENR, SINF, SELA, SPRG) for import to CALPADS. • Preparation of all four applicable Fall 2 extracts per school (SDEM, SASS, CRSE, SCSE) for import to CALPADS. • Preparation of all five applicable EOY extracts per school (CRSC, SCSC, SDIS, SWAV, SCTE).

• Install CSMC custom CALPADS Validation Tool onto your PowerSchool server.

• Correct all submission errors and post each extract per submission cycle.

• Correct all fatal certification errors to ensure certification for Fall 1, Fall 2, and EOY. • Provide Primary Point of Contact with Direct Certification Report.

• Provide Primary Point of Contact with CALPADS ODS Foster Youth Report.

• Communicate with school and neighboring districts in resolving Concurrent Enrollments, Multiple Identifiers, and Exit Reason Discrepancies to ensure certification.

• Create new SSID’s and exit transferred students on CALPADS on a weekly basis.

• Provide Primary Point of Contact with all aggregate reports and a sign off sheet with each of the three submissions.

• Work with Primary Point of Contact before and during amendment window in correcting any data entry errors.

• Test Operation Management System (TOM) Integration and Monitoring • Configure Student Test Registration TOMS • Demographic Data Corrections for Accountability Reports • CBEDS Submission

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Client Testimonial OUR CLIENTS ARE OUR BEST ADVOCATES - SEE WHAT THEY HAVE TO SAY ABOUT CSMC

Over the years, I have worked as a teacher, principal, charter school administrator, and recently as a district Superintendent, and one major lesson I’ve learned along the way is that you are only as good as your support team. When I was hired to be the Executive Director of Clayton Valley Charter High School, I knew we’d need a great deal of financial support and transparency to help propel this school to the level of operational excellence that everyone involved in its conversion dreamed of.

DAVE LINZEY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

My leadership team and I examined the services we were receiving along with our resources and current back office company at the time and determined that we needed to take a different path for back office support. In that process, CSMC stood out from the rest. Their expertise, knowledge, responsiveness, creativity, and teamwork approach, along with their specialization with tremendous resources made the decision to partner with CSMC an easy one. CSMC understood our needs and they supported us with quality leadership for decision-making.

Clayton Valley chose to utilize CSMC’s additional suite of services, which included the implementation and support of PowerSchool for our Student Information System. Taking this route saved us a tremendous amount of money and staff time.

As a result, the administrative team is now able to focus on what we do best – providing leadership in the areas of classroom instruction, meeting the needs of students, and implementing highly effective programs. Now we have direct access to a huge team of CSMC experts without having the high cost of hiring our own internal staff.

With CSMC, our payroll services have run smoothly and in a timely manner. The professionalism and courtesy shown by the CSMC payroll staff is greatly appreciated. They respond to questions nearly immediately and are very supportive in helping our staff understand key issues.

CSMC staff has been very responsive and has exceeded our expectations with their overall high quality of service. Being a new school, there are adjustment periods and CSMC has been able to support us through every ebb and flow. Having 24/7 access to Charter Vision, along with all of our financial data immediately at the tip of our fingers, allows us to make decisions that best meet the needs of the school.

As Clayton Valley Charter High School grows and develops into one of the premier high schools in all of California, we know that CSMC will be right there by us, just like they are for nearly 200 schools throughout the nation.

We are partners!

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Data Assessment System – OARS LET CSMC HELP YOU MANAGE AND UTILIZE YOUR ASSESSMENT DATA CSMC supports the setup, implementation and training of one of the more popular, user-friendly and cost efficient assessment systems on the market, OARS. Providing insight on student test scores should be the starting point, but not the only point. If properly utilized, student assessment data can be broken down from the school district level all the way down to the individual student.

Our partners’ systems allow you to gather and analyze student data, aggregate it and disaggregate it, all in real time.

The focus is on helping teachers and administrators make meaning from complex assessment data.

Teachers and administrators can use the data and report options to monitor student progress, identify each individual student’s strengths and weaknesses, identify curriculum and instructional needs, and plan for the next instructional unit.

• Security of knowing your student data is being housed on dedicated and Enterprise class servers • You want to compare multiple sets of test data from year to year • You want to create tests, quizzes, or benchmarks in less time • You want to measure academic success and boost achievement

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What CSMC can do for you: • Fully integrate with your existing Student Information System • Upload your student demographic data • Import historical assessment data including CST, CMA, CAHSEE, CELDT • Offer on-site teacher training at a time convenient to you • Provide insight and support in helping your school fully utilize assessment data • Automate the routine of uploading student data

OARS Key Features: • OARS has a growing library of diagnostic tests for the Smart Balanced Assessment, CST, and CAHSEE • Item Bank - Select over 30,000+ Common Core State Standard aligned questions to administer to your classroom.

The item bank is always expanding!

• Key Editor - Create your own tests, quizzes, or benchmarks • Plain Paper Scanning – Print your bubble sheets directly from OARS • Online Assessment Tool – Use the item bank, key editor, or diagnostic tests and administer your assessment online. Get your students ready for online state testing!

• Multiple Measures Report – Pull data ranging from local assessments, demographics and state assessments, all exportable to Excel or PDF • Item Analysis Report – Analyze students’ responses to individual assessment items. Identify which standards have been mastered and which standards to re-teach.

Why a CSMC Supported Assessment System is for you: • Lower your up-front costs and incur no capital investment in technology or licenses • Know your student data is being housed in a secure, dedicated, and enterprise class server • Compare multiple sets of benchmark and test data from month to month and year to year • Create tests, quizzes, benchmark assessments, or homework in less time • Measure academic results with a greater sense of clarity and boost your overall student achievement

www.CharterVision.net

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Consulting Services

Local Control Accountability Plan Support State law now requires every charter school to have an updated Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) every year. LCAP requirements include alignment with your charter petition and budget, as well as ensuring parent feedback in the writing and amending of each annual plan. CSMC has helped dozens of schools write and submit compliant LCAPs, while ensuring that the Plans include relevant and strategic information that goes beyond the requirements of a mere compliance document.

Public Charter School Grant Program Support The Public Charter School Grant Program is a federally funded, state-administered grant of at least $375,000 available to all new charter schools. In this highly competitive process, the California Department of Education distributes these grants to winning charter school developers to assist in the development and initial operations of newly established or conversion high quality charter schools. CSMC has a strong track record of success in helping school developers win these grants.

Local Education Agency Writing and Support All charter schools eligible to receive federal title funding must first write a Local Education Agency (LEA) Plan. Once written, it must also be renewed every five years. CSMC has assisted dozens of schools with their LEA plans. Schools ask for our expertise and experience to help them write, submit, then comply with these important plans.

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HELPING THE CHARTER MOVEMENT SUCCEED ONE SCHOOL AT A TIME

About CSMC CSMC is one of the largest and oldest providers of charter school back office business services in the nation. With over 70 employees and growing, we support nearly 200 schools across the country. CSMC’s sole mission is to support and empower leaders in education reform to create and lead innovative and high quality charter schools. With our background in school development, accounting, school operations, and financial management, CSMC can free you to lead your team toward focusing on creating high-functioning lifelong learners.

Our experience was gained from the same personal narrative that many charter schools are founded upon: sixteen years ago, CSMC founder Sandro Lanni was looking for a better school for his own children and decided to help start what was then a new concept in public schools. The educational leaders of this new charter start-up needed financial and business support, so Sandro combined his extensive business experience with his support of the charter school movement and started CSMC, thus creating a new option of support for charter schools.

Our innovative and experienced team of professionals is equipped to help you with all of your charter school back office business needs. But, we know that offering an unrivaled quality of service and outstanding value is not enough; that’s why our technical, financial, and operational initiatives are driven by the evolving needs of our customers. We are constantly implementing new services and levels of support for our clients and believe we can be the back office business provider to help your charter school attain the operational excellence you seek.

CSMC States Served

Headquarters Ph. 888.994.CSMC x0

Southern California Ph. 213.430.9045

Northern California Ph. 510.891.1343

Arizona

Ph. 888.994.CSMC x0

Colorado

Ph. 719.429.7665

Florida

Ph. 904.236.4878

Hawaii

Ph. 888.994.CSMC x0

Illinois

Ph. 888.994.CSMC x0

Indiana

Nevada

Texas

Ph. 888.994.CSMC x0

Ph. 888.994.CSMC x0

Ph. 888.994.CSMC x0

Ph. 888.994.CSMC x0

Ph. 888.994.CSMC x0

Ph. 888.994.CSMC x0

Louisiana

Ohio

Wyoming

YOUR EXPERTISE LIES IN EDUCATING YOUR STUDENTS

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HELPING THE CHARTER MOVEMENT SUCCEED ONE SCHOOL AT A TIME

www.csmci.com