Grades served in year 1: K-5	Grades served at capacity: K-8
Enrollment in year 1: 264	Enrollment at capacity: 396
Proposed Location: unknown

Mission, Need, and Demand for the School
·         The Challenge Foundation Academy (CFA) will serve students in kindergarten through 8th grade.  The school's mission is to "offer a first class education to every child."  ·         The school plans to locate adjacent to the Charles A. Tindley Accelerated School (the Tindley School) in the Meadows neighborhood, creating an "education village" which will allow the schools to share resources. ·         The school has met with parents and representatives of neighborhood community organizations to determine their interest in a new elementary school in the Meadows neighborhood.  Parents have indicated that they are happy with the new option made available to them when the Tindley high school opened in the neighborhood, but that they also want a high quality elementary school. ·         Nine neighborhood parents have expressed their support for the elementary school in written letters of support. ·         The organizer indicates that the proposed school meets the needs identified by the parents and community organizations with whom the organizer has met, such as the United North East Community Development Corporation and the Forest Manor Multi Service Center.  ·         The school has received letters of support from the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce, the United North East Community Development Corporation, Evangelist Jada West from the Church Ministry and the Charles A. Tindley Accelerated School.
Educational Services Provided
·         The Challenge Foundation Academy will use the Core Knowledge curriculum Sequence (which is aligned with the Indiana State Academic Standards) materials for half of the Reading/Language Arts, History, and Science curriculum. Core Knowledge includes carefully ordered facts, historical figures, concepts and key people that are broken down by individual grade levels so teachers know what students need to learn to be ready for the next grade.  ·         In addition to Core Knowledge, the school will use the Direct Instruction and Reading First programs to remediate students who are reading below grade level. ·         The school will implement the Saxon Math curriculum.  The math program will be accelerated one year, i.e. kindergarten students will complete the first grade math curriculum.  The acceleration of the math program may allow advanced 8th graders to take Algebra II in 8th grade, preparing them for AP Calculus by 12th grade. ·         Character education is a primary area of focus for the school.  The school will implement the Character First! curriculum.  All middle school students will be required to participate in community service projects. ·         The school will have 10 staff development days built into the school year and two days included at the end of the school year for school improvement planning. ·         The school plans to offer parents the option of before- and after-school programming for students. ·         The organizer considers parent involvement as central to the success of the school.  The school will encourage parents to volunteer at the school and be involved in their child's education.
Summary of the Founding Group
·         Since it was established in 1989, the Challenge Foundation has provided more than $19 million in grants to charter schools nationwide.  The Foundation's grantees include 185 charter schools – about 60 of which use the Core Knowledge Sequence, which CFA proposes to use for approximately half of the school's curriculum.  ·         The Challenge Foundation intends to create a nationwide network of charter schools called TEAM CFA academies and wants Indianapolis to be the site of the first school.  ·         The Challenge Foundation has significant experience supporting charter schools around the country. ·         The local members of the initial Board of Directors of the Challenge Foundation Academy have experience in nonprofit governance, law, construction, finance, and fundraising.  Two representatives from the Challenge Foundation will also sit on the Board.  Three parents will be added to the Board once the school opens. ·         The school's Board members are actively engaged in the development of the school.  ·         The Board's strengths are in the relationships the members have in the community and the professional expertise they can contribute.  They will provide valuable leadership to the facility development, partnership development and fundraising efforts for the school.
Governance and Management
·         The Board will be responsible for fiscal oversight (budget approval), policy development, hiring and evaluating the School Director and assuring that the education vision of the school is maintained. ·         Four committees of the Board will be established, including Executive, Development, Nomination, and Finance committees.  Each committee will perform specific duties for the Board to ensure proper oversight of the school. ·         The Board has identified a School Director, Donna Birdsong, a current Vice-Principal at an IPS middle school.  ·         The School Director will be responsible for overseeing the budget, establishing school culture, hiring and evaluating all staff, evaluating the school's performance and progress toward goals, maintaining relationships with the Board, community organizations, and business leaders, and maintaining compliance with the charter agreement and regulations. ·         The School Director will be supported by the Curriculum Director who will report to the School Director and oversee the educational program.   The Curriculum Director will manage the implementation of the curriculum and coordinate teacher professional development.  ·         The Curriculum Director will also lead the School Improvement Committee which will analyze all performance data for the school and will make recommendations for improvements to the Board.
Financial Viability
·         The school will receive a $100,000 grant from the Challenge Foundation for start-up expenses for years 1-3.  ·         The school has not identified a facility yet.  However, the organizer would like to locate in the Meadows neighborhood near the Tindley School in order to create an "education village" in the Meadows. ·         In conjunction with the Tindley School and the United North East Community Development Corporation, CFA has submitted a proposal to acquire a vacant piece of City-owned property near the Tindley School.  If successful, the land would be used for construction of a new building for the Challenge Foundation Academy and athletic fields, which would be shared with the Tindley School.
Accessibility
·         The school has developed a plan for identifying, evaluating and serving students with special needs and students with limited English proficiency.  A special education teacher will be hired to serve special education students.  ·         The school is considering joining the Virtual Special Education Cooperative which serves Indiana's charter schools. ·         The school has budgeted $49,000 in year one for bus transportation to ensure that transportation is not a barrier to enrolling in the school for any student.
Leadership Information *Note: The information provided below is solely a summary of qualifications, and does not reflect a comprehensive description of each founding member's expertise and experience.
Name and Proposed Positions of Applicants	·         Gene Zink—Chairman ·         Fred Scott —Vice- Chair ·         Owen "Bud" Melton—Treasurer ·         Charlie Garcia—Board Member ·         William Steinbrook— Secretary ·         Joan Lange— Board Member ·         Lois Johnson— Board Member ·         Rose Mays— Board Member ·         Donna Birdsong – School Leader
Capacities Represented by Applicants (by topic area)
School Leader Biography	·         The Challenge Foundation Academy has identified Donna Birdsong, a current vice-principal at Margaret McFarland Middle School in IPS as the leader for the school.  Ms. Birdsong has a master's degree from Butler University. She has been an educator for 13 years and has been an administrator for 4 years.
Education	Experience ·        Fred Scott served on the board of a charter school in Indianapolis and is familiar with the Indiana charter school law and accountability requirements. ·        As the current Executive Director of the Challenge Foundation and Trust for School Reform, William Steinbrook has been a national advocate for charter schools.  He has overseen the administration of $18 million in 182 charter school grants in 22 states.  He currently serves as treasurer of the Center for Education Reform executive board in Washington, DC.  ·        Joan Lange worked as a teacher for twenty six years before becoming a program officer and then a program director at the Challenge Foundation.  She helped pilot the first Core Knowledge school in the nation and then trained others in the Core Knowledge Sequence for four years.  At the Challenge Foundation, she manages a grants portfolio of 70 charter schools. ·        Rose Mays has taught nursing at IUPUI for several years. Training ·        Joan Lange has a BS and an MA in education.
Other Youth Work	Experience ·         Gene Zink is past president of the Park Tudor School board.  ·         As the pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, GA, William Steinbrook oversaw numerous educational programs including an after-school program, a Montessori preschool and a program for autistic children.  ·         Rose Mays is the Associate Dean of Nursing at IUPUI.  Her expertise and research interests are in adolescent health behavior and parent-adolescent communication concerning health issues.     ·         Lois Johnson has been the Freetown Village Summer Camp Director since 1998.  She has also been a classroom assistant and has served as the director of Willowbrook Christian Academy.
Management	Experience ·        Gene Zink recently retired as the Vice Chairman of Duke Realty Corporation and as the President and CEO of HKZ Enterprises.  He is currently the President of the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce.    ·        Bud Melton recently retired from a long career in bank management.  He served as the president and CFO of First Indiana Bank for twenty years.  Previously, he was the president and CEO of two savings and loan companies. ·        Charles Garcia is the President of GM Construction, Indiana's third largest minority-owned business.  Training ·        Gene Zink has an Masters in Business Administration. ·        Charles Garcia took executive training courses at Dartmouth College's Tuck Executive Program and UCLA.
Entrepreneurialism	·        Charles Garcia was named Entrepreneur of the Year in 1994 by Ernst and Young and has also been named Entrepreneur of the Year by the Center for Leadership Development.
Fundraising	Experience ·        Bud Melton was the 2002 Chairman for the United Way of Central Indiana.  He has also served as a member of the executive steering committee of the capital funds campaign for Second Presbyterian Church.
Finance / Accounting	Experience ·         For ten years, Gene Zink was the Executive Vice President and CFO of Duke Realty Corporation.  ·         As the retired president of First Indiana Bank, Bud Melton has a strong financial background. Training ·        Bud Melton has a BS in finance.
Legal Expertise	Experience ·         Gene Zink was a partner with Bose McKinney & Evans. ·         Fred Scott has a law practice in Indianapolis that specializes in taxation and estate planning.  He is also the church attorney for the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis.  Training ·        Gene Zink and Fred Scott both have a JD from Indiana University.