*Information is based on original charter application.

Grades served in year 1: K-5

Grades served at capacity: K-12

Enrollment in year 1: 260

Enrollment at capacity: 568

Proposed Location: unknown

Mission, Need, and Demand for the School

·        The mission of the two Indianapolis Lighthouse Charter Schools (ILCS) is for students to "acquire the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes to be responsible citizens and effective workers.  Students will realize this mission through a curriculum that infuses fine and performing arts into a rigorous core of content."

·        The ILCS schools will engage students by infusing the arts throughout the curriculum and the schools' research-based curricula will provide students with the basic skills critical for success.

·        The schools will serve students from grades PreK-12 to promote continuity of contact with students and families and provide a consistent education to students throughout their schooling. 

·        The ILCS schools have contacted more than 30 community organizations and 100 community members, including: Butler University, the American Pianists Association, and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.

Educational Services Provided

·        Lighthouse Academies, Inc. (LA), a non-profit charter management organization, will manage the schools.  LA has conducted extensive research to develop a comprehensive educational model.  The ILCS schools' educational program will follow this model.

·        LA's research has identified early childhood education as a key to high student performance.  LA will offer the pre-school programs at the ILCS schools on a sliding fee scale based on free and reduced-price lunch eligibility.  Students who are eligible for free lunch will pay no fee and those who are eligible for reduced-price lunch will pay a reduced fee of $300 annually.  The pre-school programs, for which no public funds are available, will not operate under the terms of the charters.  Students attending the pre-school programs will be required to enter the charter schools' lotteries for kindergarten.  

·        Arts infusion is a key component of the schools' educational program.  The arts, including music, dance, visual arts and theater, will be used to engage students and provide different ways for students to experience learning. 

·        The schools' regular art teachers will collaborate with the classroom teachers to ensure high quality instruction that brings art techniques into the regular classrooms.  All students will be required to participate in at least one public art demonstration each year.

·        The schools' budgets include $20,000 for artists-in-residence at the schools in addition to the schools' full-time art teachers.

·        LA's full educational program includes a comprehensive curriculum aligned with the Indiana standards.  LA also has developed exit standards that specify large tasks students must master in order to complete a series of grade ranges (K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12).  The exit standards are aligned with the more detailed state standards that will drive daily skill and content learning. The educational program also includes a process for assessing student progress on a daily, monthly, and yearly basis. 

·        The Core Knowledge sequence is the centerpiece of the curriculum.  Core Knowledge includes carefully ordered facts, historical figures, concepts and key people that are broken down by individual grade levels, so teachers know specifically what students need to learn to be ready for the next grade. 

·        Open Court Reading, which focuses on explicit phonics instruction, will be the primary reading program.

·        Saxon Math, the schools' math curriculum, introduces a topic to students and then allows students to build upon that concept as they learn new ones. Topics are never dropped but are instead increased in complexity and practiced every day, providing the time required for students to fully learn concepts. 

·        The schools' science, history and geography programs are also linked to the Core Knowledge sequence.

·        The ILCS schools will implement a detailed and well-conceived professional development program that teachers will attend for four weeks in the summer prior to opening.  The program will include sessions on school culture, arts infusion, curriculum training on Open Court Reading, Core Knowledge, Saxon Math, and Full Option Science System, special education training, communication with parents, and team building.  Ongoing professional development will be offered throughout the school year.

·        The ILCS schools will actively seek to involve parents in the schools and make them partners in the schools.  Parents will be asked to volunteer in classrooms/libraries and will be kept informed of their students' progress through weekly feedback folders that will include students' work, general notes on their performance and behavior, and letters from the teacher or principal.  The schools also will have two parent-teacher conferences per year and hold monthly parent nights to provide useful information to parents. 

·        The schools will operate on a longer school day (8 hours) and a longer school year (190 days).

Summary of the Founding Group

·        Lighthouse Academies, Inc. (LA), the non-profit organization that will manage the schools, is funded by the Pisces Foundation (which also funds KIPP Indianapolis, another Mayor-sponsored charter school) and the New Schools Venture Fund (NSVF).  Pisces and NSVF funds allowed LA to conduct extensive research and develop the educational model. The first LA charter school will open in the South Bronx in fall 2004.

·        NSVF invested $1 million in LA after conducting an extensive due diligence process on the organization and on LA's President.  NSVF found that the educational program was well-developed, based on well-regarded national curriculum models, and included strong assessment and professional development components.  In addition, NSVF has expressed the utmost confidence in and support for LA's President.  His experience with charter school management and development as well as his background as a public school superintendent and teacher confirmed for the NSVF that LA was a sound investment.

            LA's staff has significant experience with charter school development and management, including expertise in law, curriculum development, marketing, and teaching, all of which will be essential to the success of the ILCS start-up.

            The two ILCS schools will share a Board of Trustees.  ILCS board members have experience in a variety of fields, including, technology, government, education, marketing, finance, non-profit management, facility planning, and law. 

            The ILCS board includes a former Education Policy Advisor to Gov. Evan Bayh (and former Director of Indiana's Children's Health Insurance Program), the Regional Director of the Business Modernization and Technology Corporation, the Program Director of the Stanley K. Lacy Executive Leadership Series, the Managing Director of Goelzer Investment Banking, the former Deputy Chief of Staff to the late Gov. Frank O'Bannon, an attorney at Baker & Daniels (and former Executive Assistant to Gov. O'Bannon), and the Owner of Horn & Associates, a strategic marketing firm. 

            LA is also creating a Board of Advisors for the ILCS schools which will include individuals from the Indianapolis community with experience in law, real estate, finance, education, and other areas.  Currently, there are two individuals with experience in construction and the arts and higher education that have agreed to serve on the Board of Advisors.

Governance and Management

            The partnership with LA will provide essential services to the schools, particularly during the start-up period.  LA has the capacity and expertise to help the schools with: marketing and recruitment of students; staffing, professional development and other human resource functions; setting up the accounting and financial systems, preparing the schools budgets and reviewing financial statements; implementing the curriculum and a reporting system; and selecting instructional materials, equipment and supplies. 

            The ILCS Board of Trustees will provide fiscal oversight for the schools, including the approval of the schools' budgets. The Board will oversee the schools' pursuit of their mission, the educational program and organizational performance, and will review the academic outcomes of the schools. 

            The ILCS Board will be responsible for holding LA accountable for the services LA is contractually bound to provide to the ILCS schools.

            The Board also will conduct annual performance reviews of the Principals of both schools.  The Principal of each ILCS school will be responsible for the daily operations of the school, in accordance with the mission, philosophy and policies established through the charter.  As the instructional leaders for the schools, the Principals will be responsible for all academic outcomes and will oversee the instructional staff, including annual evaluation of all employees.

Financial Viability

·        LA has already invested over a million dollars into its educational model and plans to invest more in the schools.

            LA will give each ILCS school a low-interest, $250,000 loan to cover start-up expenses.  Currently, LA is trying to secure a grant from a national foundation so the schools will not have to repay these loans.

            The ILCS Board of Trustees will form a Finance and Audit Committee that will review the schools' budget reports on a monthly basis.  The Committee will also oversee the selection of an independent auditor and the completion of the annual audit.  Several members of the ILCS Board have experience managing public funds, including experience directing the Indiana Children's Health Insurance Program and directing the Indiana State Student Assistance Program.

Accessibility

·        The educational program is designed to cater to different instructional levels and needs and the ILCS schools are committed to educating special education students in the least restrictive environment.  The schools have included in their budgets the resources necessary to hire a comprehensive special education staff and have established reserves in their budgets to address additional needs that may arise once students are enrolled. 

·        The ILCS schools also plan to join the charter schools special education cooperative to augment the resources their staffs will offer to ensure that the schools can provide the appropriate special education services to students. 

·        The schools have clear plans for identifying students with limited English proficiency (students and families will complete a language survey) and for providing those students with the instruction necessary to improve their English reading and writing skills.

            Each school's budget includes an allowance for the operation of a two-bus transportation system at a cost of $52,000 in the first year of operation to ensure that transportation will not be a barrier 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

·        Michael Ronan—Authorized Representative, President, Lighthouse Academies, Inc. (LA)

·        Dr. Gail Foster—Senior Vice President for Education, LA

·        Michael Chow—Board Member, ILCS

·        Christopher Hirschfeld—Board Member, ILCS

·        Betsy Shaw Elsasser—Board Member, ILCS

·        Wendy Horn—Board Member, ILCS

·        Nancy Cobb—Board Member, ILCS

·        Patricia Rios—Board Member, ILCS

·        Joseph Smith—Board Member, ILCS

·        Tim Joyce—Advisor, LA

·        Mark Culliton—VP Business Development, LA

·        Dan Barcan—VP for Partnerships, LA

·        Jodi Tucker—VP of Human Resources, LA

·        Angela Fernandez—Regional Director for Business Development, LA

·        Sharon Lepire—Senior Accountant, LA

·        Dr. Lucien Ellington—Senior Education Advisor, LA

·        Peggyanne Ecclesine—Education Specialist, LA

·        Leah Zuckerman— Education Specialist, LA

·        Dr. Phillip Howard— Education Specialist, LA

·        Carol Wing— Marketing Specialist, LA

Capacities Represented by Applicants (by topic area)

School Leader Biography

·        ILCS and LA have not yet identified leaders for the schools. However, LA's chosen school leaders will have the opportunity to participate in the KIPP School Leadership Training Program at UC Berkeley which is a nationally recognized school leader training program.  In addition, LA is in discussions with the highly-regarded Building Excellent Schools Fellowship program in Boston to recruit and train high quality school leaders. 

Education

Experience

·        Dr. Gail Foster, Senior Vice President for Education for LA, is a former social studies teacher and high school administrator.  After she got her doctorate, she helped found the Toussaint Institute Fund which worked to empower parents in low-performing schools.  More recently, she has served as an educational research and technical consultant in the areas of school policy, school culture, charter schools, and inner city private schools.

·        Michael Ronan, President of LA, began his educational career as a middle school history teacher.  He went on to become the Director of Curriculum and Instruction and eventually the Superintendent of Schools in Uxbridge, MA.  Since 1997, he has worked at the national level to provide management and consulting services to charter schools and districts.  He has been directly involved with the management of 40 charter schools including 15 start-up schools.

·        Tim Joyce serves as an Advisor to LA.  One of his projects as Chief of Staff to Gov. Frank O'Bannon was to help implement Public Law 221 which gave Indiana academic standards and an accountability system.  He has also served as Executive Director of the State Student Assistance Program under Gov. Evan Bayh.

·        Dan Barcan is Vice President for School Development and Grants at LA.  He has worked as a social studies and English teacher in a Massachusetts charter school.

·        Jodi Tucker is the Vice President of Human Resources at LA.  She has several years of experience in operating charter schools.

·        Angela Fernandez is a Regional Director of Business Development for LA.  She taught GED and ESL classes at the City College of New York and was a Women's Studies instructor in an inmate education program.

·        Dr. Lucien Ellington is a professor of education at the University of Tennessee and a Senior Education Advisor to LA.  His specialty is Asia and he edits a journal on Asia for middle, high school and university instructors.  

·        Peggyanne Ecclesine is an education specialist for LA.  She has worked as a charter school teacher and consultant for seven years.  As a consultant, she has developed curriculum and accountability plans and provided professional development to teachers in charter schools. 

·        Leah Zuckerman is an education specialist for LA.  She was a founding teacher at a charter school and has also worked as a coach for the Turning Points school design.  

·        Dr. Phillip Howard is an education specialist for LA.  He has directed programs for struggling students and has written technology and mathematics curricula.

·        Mark Culliton, VP of Business Development for LA, served as the Chief Operating Officer of a nonprofit after school and summer enrichment organization serving 1,500 children.  He is the Chairman of the Boston Preparatory Charter School. 

·        As an education policy advisor for Gov. Bayh, Nancy Cobb, an ILCS board member, coordinated the development of a ten-year education plan, developed the Step Ahead program, helped develop family-friendly legislation, and developed a publication that tracked Indiana's progress toward the National Education Goals.  In an earlier position as Executive Assistant for Special Institutions she oversaw the Indiana School for the Blind, School for the Deaf, and several children's homes.  She has also served as a volunteer in the Washington Township Schools including serving as president of the parent teacher organization.

·        Wendy Horn, an ILCS board member, worked with charter schools in other cities to help identify site and facility solutions. 

·        Joseph Smith, an ILCS board member, is serving as a mentor to the current president of the Charles A. Tindley Accelerated Charter School. 

Training

·        Dr. Gail Foster has a PhD in Educational Administration from Columbia University.

·        Michael Ronan has a Masters in School Administration and in Program Planning and Evaluation.

·        Dr. Lucien Ellington has an advanced degree in education.

·        Peggyanne Ecclesine has a Masters in Education from Columbia University.  

·        Leah Zuckerman has a Masters in Administration, Planning, and Social Policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Other Youth Work

Experience

·        Betsy Elsasser has volunteered in various child-related organizations: Child Advocates, the Care Center Shelter and her church youth group.

·        Michael Chow was a mathematics coach for the Guggenheim Academy in Chicago where he instructed at-risk youth in applied algebraic logic and language arts.

·        Nancy Cobb worked as a Director in the Indiana State Department of Health.  While there, she led a children's environmental health initiative to develop a childhood lead poisoning elimination plan and she implemented a program to enroll more low-income children in the state children's heath insurance program.

·        Joseph Smith worked for the state student assistance program marketing the Twenty First Century Scholar program.   He is currently a member of the Central Indiana Community Foundations Scholarship committee.

Training

·        Betsy Elsasser has an undergraduate minor in early child development.

Management

Experience

·        Tim Joyce served as Senior Advisor to Gov. Kernan and as Chief of Staff for the late Gov. Frank O'Bannon. Under Gov. Evan Bayh, he also served as Executive Director of the State Student Assistance Program, Commissioner of the Department of Labor and Commissioner of Workforce Development.

·        Betsy Elsasser has worked as a manager in a retail store and has been the program director for an executive leadership program for the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce.

·        Patricia Rios was the Deputy Chief of Staff and Exec. Assistant for Gov. O'Bannon.  As such, she was his liaison to the Indiana House of Representatives, oversaw 70 state agencies and over 34,000 state employees, and advised the Governor on all state issues, including personnel, budget and policy.

·        Michael Ronan, President of LA, was the Superintendent of Schools in Uxbridge, MA.   

Training

·        Dan Barcan studied management at the Mass. Institute for Technology.

·        Jodi Tucker has a BS in Business Administration.

·        Mark Culliton has an MBA.

Entrepreneurialism

Experience

·        Wendy Horn started her own strategic marketing and business development firm, Horn and Associates.

Fundraising

Experience

·        Christopher Hirschfeld is working to establish an endowment program at his church.

·        Nancy Cobb wrote two successful grant applications to the Council of Governor's Policy Advisors as Education Policy Advisor to Gov. Bayh.

·        Michael Ronan, President of LA, has raised significant resources already in support of Lighthouse Academies.   

Finance / Accounting

Experience

·        Jodi Tucker has worked at an investment bank.

·        Christopher Hirschfeld is managing director of Goelzer Investment Banking.  He has worked as a financial analyst, as a financial advisor to individuals and small business owners, and as an investment banker.

·        Sharon Lepire is the Senior Accountant at Lighthouse Academies. She has five years of charter school finance experience.  

Training

·        Christopher Hirschfeld has an MBA from the University of Chicago and a BA in Business Administration.

·        Sharon Lepire has a BS in Accounting.  

Marketing / Public Relations

Experience

·        Carol Wing is a marketing specialist for Lighthouse Academies.  She has over 20 years of experience in marketing and design including working for several charter schools.

·        Betsy Elsasser has directed marketing projects for a real estate company and a retail store.

·        Wendy Horn is the owner/principal of a strategic marketing and business development firm targeted to the seniors housing, real estate, and healthcare industries.  She has worked for twenty years in new business development. 

Legal Expertise

Experience

·        Jodi Tucker currently teaches law courses at Bentley College in Massachusetts.  She has provided legal counsel to schools in many states and has practiced law both as in-house counsel and at a large firm in the District of Columbia.

·        Angela Fernandez was a contract attorney for American Express. 

·        Joseph Smith works as an attorney for Baker & Daniels.   

Training

·        Jodi Tucker has a JD from Georgetown University.

·        Angela Fernandez has a JD from Columbia University.

·        Patricia Rios has a JD from Indiana University – Indianapolis.

·        Joseph Smith has a JD from Indiana University.

Management of Public Funds

Experience

·        Under Gov. Evan Bayh, Tim Joyce served as Executive Director of the State Student Assistance Program, Commissioner of the Departments of Labor and Commissioner of Workforce Development.

·        Mike Ronan was a Superintendent in Uxbridge, MA for 16 years.

·        Nancy Cobb was the Director of Indiana's Children's Health Insurance Program which enrolled 150,000 children in the Hoosier Healthwise program.

Nonprofit Governance

Experience

·        Dr. Foster is a founding board member of the Black Alliance for Educational Options and a board member of the Council on American Private Education.

·        Christopher Hirschfeld served on the Greater Indianapolis Financial Planning Association board.

·        Betsy Elsasser has served on the board of the Children's Theatre Institute.   

·        Wendy Horn is on the Maryville College Advisory Board.

·        Patricia Rios is on the board of the Hispanic Center, Saint Mary's Child Center, and the Indiana AIDS Fund.  She is also on the Latino Affairs Commission of Marion County.

·        Joseph Smith has eight years of experience in the government sector.  He served as Executive Assistant to the Governor, was a compliance officer for the U.S. Dept. of Labor, and worked as a law intern in the Attorney General's Office.