General Information

Thank you for your interest in applying for the Georgia Charter School of the Year award sponsored by The Coca-Cola Foundation.

This prestigious award was established to honor excellence in education throughout the charter sector.

To qualify for this honor and accompanying grant, the applicant must meet the following criteria:

1. Be a GCSA member school in good standing;
2. Demonstrate academic excellence as measured by standardized achievement tests;
3. Serve students in Georgia;
4. Operational for five or more years;
5. Demonstrate operational sustainability and sound fiscal practices as evidenced by unqualified annual audits;
6. Demonstrate autonomous governance through the use of waivers as well as authority over academic, financial, and personnel decisions;
7. Be accredited or in the process of being accredited by either SACS-CASI or GACS;
8. Submit timely and complete application by June 29, 2012.

Our application process is demanding and time consuming, so schools should be certain they meet our criteria before completing this proposal and submitting the required documents. Please contact the Director of Member Services, Rena Youngblood, at ryoungblood@gacharters.org regarding eligibility or questions related to the award.

Grant applications should include:
1. This survey

The following documents submitted to Rena Youngblood at ryoungblood@gacharters.org:

2. Historic data highlighting student achievement from the last five years;

3. The most current annual budget;

4. Most recent 3 years of audits;

5. List of school's waivers

The three finalists should be prepared to bring a slideshow or DVD demonstrating your school's culture, mission, and innovation. Slideshow and DVD time should be 3-5 minutes in length.


The review committee will not consider the following grant applications:

1. From individuals or private, for-profit companies;
2. Applications not submitted by the application due date; or
3. Incomplete applications.

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* 1. Please complete the following contact information:

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* 2. Grade levels you serve (select all that apply):

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* 3. Are you affiliated with an educational management organization (EMO)?

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* 4. Number of years in operation:

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* 5. Please complete the information below related to enrollment

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* 6. Please provide information related to your student population (percentages, 0-100)

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* 7. What is your school's MISSION?

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* 8. Please provide any core beliefs or guiding principles your school may have (if applicable)

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* 9. Please describe your school's education philosophy and unique hallmarks of your instructional program.

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* 10. Please describe the focus of you school improvement plans for the upcoming school year. What was the rationale for these plans/goals?

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* 11. Please describe how you attain academic excellence. Include information pertaining to addressing students whose baseline aptitude, prior performance, and prior experience are dramatically below standard. Also address supporting the needs of gifted students and students on-grade level.

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* 12. Describe how teachers are supported in your school to achieve excellence with their students. Consider staff culture, professional development, assessment, compensation, and any other factor you feel impacts quality instruction.

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* 13. Please select 3 charter goals/objectives related to academic achievement. Articulate the goals and describe your progress against these goals throughout your charter term(s).

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* 14. Please fully describe your assessment program, both formative and assessment, and how you report progress to parents. Describe how data is used to drive instruction.

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* 15. Please describe how your school leader is supported. Include information such as professional development, mentoring, compensation, asseessment, staff culture, and any other factor you feel has a direct and substantial impact on the effectiveness of staff and student achievement.

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* 16. If you are named the Charter School of the Year and are awarded a $50,000 grant, how do you anticipate utilizing these grant funds?

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