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Development Services
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The Incubator Project

The Incubator Project (IP) offers a comprehensive package of development services to a select group of clients. CSDC guides clients for one to two years through the planning, charter-drafting, and start-up stages. IP fosters the development of educationally successful, organizationally sustainable schools through an individualized coaching process. Based on each school's individual needs, IP provides:

• Rigorous review and editing of key foundation documents, including a comprehensive school design, the charter and district impact statement, financial plan, and memorandum of understanding.
• Expert legal and policy assistance.
• Expert financial planning assistance, including start-up and operational budgets, 3-5 year financial projections, and cash flow projections.
• Participation in all relevant CSDC workshops, including accountability, financial planning, and governance workshops.

Who is eligible?
IP groups must possess a strong commitment to a rigorous, in-depth school design and charter development process for at least one year. Groups must also demonstrate a clear and achievable instructional vision for their school and include team members with experience in education, finance, and governance/management.

A La Carte Services

Promising development groups can also select from an assortment of services on an as-needed basis.In depth individual projects include:

• Charter proposal and charter contract drafting, review, and negotiations
• Start-up timeline and checklist
• Incorporation documents drafting and review
• Governing board development and training
• Governance policy templates
• Grant writing assistance
• Budget development and/or revisions
• Admissions and enrollment process
• Instructional program review
• Assessment and accountability plan
• Training on standards alignment, state and alternative assessments, and curriculum development
• Executive search
• Personnel evaluation systems

Who is eligible?
All charter school development groups with the resources, time and commitment necessary to open a successful school may apply. CSDC offers these services based on time availability.

Workshops and Publications

CSDC offers the country's most comprehensive charter school workshops and publications. These resources offer in-depth and practical advice on a wide range of topics.

Workshops
Critical workshops for charter developers include:

• Charter School Development
• Charter School Design
• Charter School Financial Planning
• Drafting Your Charter · Charter School Accountability
• Charter School Governance
• Defining and Measuring Student Performance
• Special Education
• Charter School Legal Issues
• Charter School Updates

Publications
Our extensive library of detailed "how-to" guidebooks and "tool kits" of sample documents include:

• Charter School Design and Drafting Tool Kit
• Charter School Accountability Tool Kit
• Charter School Governance

For more information about all of our development services, contact us at (503) 249-3712 orCSDC@chartercenter.org

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