I have to confess, I'm a terrible blogger.  Almost two months in between posts?  Unacceptable...
But, we've been busy here at WCSA!  Let's see, between the last entry and this one we have made significant progress on our strategic plan, hosted a fundraising event for 300 people, added two new members to our Board of Directors, started our annual membership drive, visited schools, continued work on SB22, and began developing NEW charter school institutes for operations and authorizers...Just typing that has me spent!

Our strategic plan is in its final stages and will be ready for distribution by the end of this year, so please stay tuned.  It has been an eye opening experience for us at WCSA.  We're thinking very critically about WCSA's role in this movement and how we can serve our members best.  It's definitely going to be worth a read (at least the executive summary).

The 4th annual WI Charter Schools Awards Gala was again a HUGE success!  We had 300 people share in the excitement of another year of accomplishments on October 21st at Discovery World in Milwaukee.  Each and every year I am energized by the people who attend, and the obvious passion and support for public charter schools.  We JUST got the photos back from the photographer and they are stellar!  Take a look at them here.

In our October Newsletter and at the Gala we announced that two incredible new board members had joined the WCSA ranks.  Michael Daun, deputy comptroller for the City of Milwaukee, and Danae Davis, CEO of Pearls for Teen Girls, Inc are now the newest members of the WI Charter Schools family.  We are honored that they have chosen to serve on our board and we feel incredibly lucky to have two such talented people sharing their expertise with us.  

We've also begun our membership drive!  If you have not done so already, please visit our membership page and renew your charter school membership or your individual membership.  It may not be much out of your pocket, but each and every membership helps WCSA improve programs for charter schools and charter school advocates.  If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact me or Ingrid.

Let's see...oh, right, that small undertaking called the CONFERENCE!!! We're already knee deep in work for that, too!  March 15th and 16th are bound to be the two most incredible charter school days since October 21st.  We will be announcing some important speakers and sessions in the coming weeks and months, so make sure to check back often.  You can register now for the 2012 conference by clicking here!  Do you have ideas for the conference? For a speaker? For a session?  We want to hear it!  Email me!

Alright, well, that's enough for one update.  I'm very excited about what the next few months hold for WCSA.  I hope you are too!

One of the most important things we do here at WCSA is to build the charter school community throughout the state.  And I think over the past 4 years we've done a pretty good job of it.  But, our work is never done.

I was at a meeting just a few days ago with a good group of charter school leaders and it became obvious that we still have a long ways to go before we can call ourselves ONE MOVEMENT.  
Our Annual Awards Gala helps this, so does our Conference in the spring.  But each of us has a responsibility to do our best to help the movement evolve and mature each and every day.  We have some great resources on our website to help you do this.  If it has been a while since you brushed up on your charter school FAQs and talking points, check them out and have them on hand.
Another great opportunity is to host a local official at your school.  One of the most frustrating things we all face on a daily basis is that people still don't know what public charter schools are!  We can change that, though, by asking public officials to join us at events, to visit your schools, and to learn about what you do for students.  
If you need any help, as always, we are here to support you!

I visited the open house for Milwaukee Scholars Charter School a few nights ago to see the progress on the building (the last time I was there there were no windows installed yet and we met in a temporary trailer!), to met some of the teachers, and to talk with some of the families interested in the school.  
I was impressed with the speed at which the teachers have prepared their rooms and the unique ways that they have made the rooms all their own.  
One corner in particular inspired me:

With 30 new charter schools starting this year and potentially 23 more next year, there are going to be a lot of opportunities for students to become champs in their own way.  

I thought, when I embarked on this blogging adventure that it would be easy to keep it up.  I figured, I love to talk, so writing a few paragraphs every few days should be easy as pie (strawberry rhubarb, to be specific).  But it's tough.  
I don't want this to be a 'policy blog'.  I want it to be a collection of stories and pictures from WCSA travels. I want people to feel connected to WCSA from across the state (this big, big, beautiful state).  So, here it goes...

This picture was taken just minutes before the ribbon cutting at New Directions Learning Community- a public charter school in Kaukauna opening its doors this fall.  I was blown away by this group of teachers the first time I met them over  year and a half ago.  They are energetic. They have a vision. They are dedicated. They are smart. They knew they needed to do something different.  They've worked their collective tail off to get to this point, and was it ever a special moment.  
The Mayor showed up along with members of the district school board, families of children who will be attending, community advocates, not to mention a few kids from the neighborhood who just thought it looked like a good time!

This was outside of one of the classroom doors... What a great message to send to students, right?  

Man, you guys are all my inspiration!

In a little over 2 months we will yet again be coming together in a beautiful venue to celebrate the accomplishments of the past year.  

It's going to be a really great event.  We're adding a Silent Auction this year and changing the pace to be a little more networking friendly.  

But, since it's an AWARDS Gala, we need to know whom to give the awards to!  And that's where you all come in.  You need to nominate!  I know you all know superb teachers and people who have affected your school in some way, and we want to hear about them!  So go on, nominate!!!

And, don't forget to buy a ticket so you can come and enjoy the event!  We're only selling three hundred, so get yours quickly!

See you there!
Sarah

A new site?  No way!

Welcome to WCSA's new, steam lined website.  The old one was just getting a bit bulky, so we decided we needed to make some changes.

That's been the theme of the summer for WCSA- change.  John Gee said it best in his address at the conference in April, " We have to dare to make the future." 

We've started by daring to change our website (I think it's pretty good, but if you hate it, or are confused by it, or have ideas for it please let me know sgranofsky@wicharterschools.org).  And we will continue to "make the future" through more changes coming about.  We're going to take a critical look at how WCSA communicates with schools and people throughout the state- what have we done well, what can we do better- and we're probably going to implement some changes.  We're going to look at our membership.  What more can we provide for our members so they see the benefits of it?  How do we challenge our membership to be engaged and responsive?  

We're even changing some parts of the Awards Gala to bring it up a notch again this year!

We want you to be informed about what WCSA is doing, so we will strive to send out regular communications about our goings on (if you don't get our newsletter, sign up on our front page!).  We'll also try to keep this blog up to date (but we all know what can happen to blogs...).  And, as always, you can email or call any of us with kudos, concerns, questions, or suggestions.  Our contact information is on the 'Contact' page (clever, huh?).

We hope you 'dare to make the future' along side us!
Sarah G Toce