Please Join Us in Supporting WA FAB’s Work

The past few years have kept our small team of charter parents seriously busy!

We’ve been coaching fellow charter parent leaders and staff in raising concerns, providing direct advocacy support to families navigating special education matters, and creating a charter family meeting program with all the information we wish we knew when we began our journeys as charter parents.

We’re so proud of the work we’ve done so far. We couldn’t have done it without you, and we can’t keep going without your support. We invite you to join in the WA FAB fun as a volunteer, board member, or as a donor.

Please email [email protected] if you’re interested in volunteering or board service and please donate at https://tinyurl.com/WAFAB-donations. Every dollar makes a difference. 🙂 Thank you!!

An Invitation from the Charter School Commission to Families

Dear Families,

As a valued member of your charter public school community, we want to hear your voice as part of our strategic planning process for the Washington State Charter School Commission. We are the main authorizer of charter public schools in Washington, and make important decisions about charter schools. We want to increase communication with our school communities to help charter public schools across the state be successful for students.

Your voice is critical, as we plan for the future of charter public schools in Washington State.

There are two ways to get in touch with us, a survey and focus group.

1) Please take the below survey by March 25 to help us learn what matters to you. The survey is translated into four languages:

The survey will take about 20 minutes. Your responses will be anonymous and kept strictly confidential. The data collected will be used only for the strategic planning efforts of the Washington State Charter School Commission.

Also, please share the survey with other people in your school community who may want to get involved. If you have any questions or encounter any difficulties accessing the survey, please email [email protected].

2) Please also join one of our Family Focus Groups on Zoom, Monday, April 15th at 12:00 pm or 6:30 pm.

Thank you in advance for making the time to let us know your thoughts through our survey and focus group! Your voice is vital in shaping the future of charter public schools in Washington.

What We’re Up To

Our Family Meeting Toolkit Project

WA FAB recently partnered with the school leaders and new Family & Community Engagement Managers at both Rainier Prep and Why Not You Academy to launch the first in a series of meetings that we have been developing called Family Meeting Toolkit. The pilot meeting for this series was at Rainier Prep and it yielded positive feedback from both staff and families. Families shared that they did not know exactly who the Charter School Commission was before this meeting and they also appreciated learning that they could attend meetings for their school's board as well as the Commission.

Within the first meeting, families are introduced to who their school leadership and Board of Directors are as well as who the Charter School Commission is and what they do. They are also educated on how a charter school differs from district public and private schools, the history of how their school came to be, and how they can support their school and the charter sector as a whole by being engaged. Schools are able to customize this meeting and any of the other meetings to best fit with their school's mission and vision.

The purpose of the Family Meeting Toolkit is to be a template of a series of meetings for charter schools to build relationships with and educate their families on all the ways they can engage with their school. It accomplishes this goal by empowering them with useful information about their school structure and the charter sector as a whole, giving them strategies for advocating for their child as well as introducing specific topics such as special education. 

If your school is interested in reviewing the Family Meeting Toolkit for possible implementation, please reach out to the Program Lead: Emily McLeod, [email protected].

WA Charters Building the Future Conference

We’ll be at the WA Charters 2024 Conference on Saturday, May 4th, will you? You’ll see our team in the Community Hall and popping into different sessions throughout the day (check out the schedule).

Eric Willard will be facilitating the 2:45 pm session, Co-Architects of Education: Fostering Effective Parent Partnerships.

He will be joined by a panel of charter parents, Emily McLeod, Yoland Fontemont, and Lenny Emperado (also the RVLA Dean of Community Engagement), and Jessica de Barros, Executive Director of the Washington State Charter School Commission.

Charter parents pay only $25 for registration (charter school staff and board members pay $75) and there’s free childcare all day for children ages 4-12. Join us there!

What’s Going On in the Charter Community: Collective Care through Board Service

Part of our mission is to support Washington’s innovative charter public schools in being successful. One way families can support schools in caring for our children and working for their success as scholars is through serving as school board members.

Here are three charter schools looking for new board members:

1) Join the Why Not You Academy School Board

Why Not You Academy (WNYA) in Des Moine is seeking dedicated individuals to serve on their school’s Board of Directors.

To apply: https://tinyurl.com/WNYA-Board-Application

2) Join the Pullman Community Montessori School Board

Pullman Community Montessori (PCM) in Wenatchee is looking for new board members. No worries if you live outside the area, their board meetings are all held virtually on Zoom.

To read more about board responsibilities and apply: http://www.pullmancommunitymontessori.org/our-board

3) Join the Summit Schools Washington Board

To learn more and apply: http://summitps.org/who-we-are/board-of-directors

Interested in serving on a charter school board but not quite sure what it involves? Learn about board service from Bluum's five video series on YouTube--Charter School Governance: The Essential Guide.

Community Resources

For Youth Ages 14-24: Career Readiness and Internship Program

For Caregivers: A Bachelor’s Program for Working Adults

Upcoming Charter Community Events

Local Charter School Board Meetings

Find your Commission Authorized school here, then click on the school page for where to find information about your school’s board meeting times and agendas.

For Spokane Public Schools Authorized charter schools (Lumen High School and Pride Schools) please go here and scroll down to find your school and the link to their board members and meeting schedule.

Washington State Charter School Commission

Thursday, April 18th, 10:00 am-4:00 pm

Hybrid Bimonthly Meeting at Olympic Educational Service District, 105 National Ave N, Bremerton, WA 98312

Virtual option: https://zoom.us/j/3607255511 | Dial (646) 558-8656 | Meeting ID 360 725 5511

Agenda & Materials will be posted here. Learn how to make a public comment at this link.

WA Charters Building the Future Conference

Saturday, May 4th, 7:30 am-4:15 pm