• The Southeast Neighborhood School of Excellence (SENSE) mission is to offer a community-focused school. Cultural and community appreciation will play a major role and will focus on the local community. More than ten percent of the local neighborhood's population is of Latino heritage. Accordingly, Spanish language and Latino culture will play a prominent role.
• The school was developed through an intensive community effort that included interviews, public meetings, focus groups, and surveys to identify significant demand for this type of elementary school. The surrounding neighborhood's high immigrant population and low literacy rates also point to the need for a culturally rich and literacy-focused school such as SENSE.
• The founding group has compiled a list of over 125 individuals and groups interested in supporting the new school.
• Fewer than half the adults in the southeast neighborhood have high school diplomas and drop-out rates are high among the current student population. This school will work with local adult education groups to provide job skills training and adult literacy programs. SENSE also aims to give elementary school students a strong academic foundation so they will be well prepared for and motivated to achieve higher levels of education.
• SENSE will provide opportunities for local residents to develop skills as classroom aids, tutors, office assistants, and instructors. These opportunities will encourage increased parent and community involvement and will improve employment prospects for students' families.
• Teachers will make visits to each student's home to develop personal connections and encourage the family to stay engaged in the school.

• Responding to the particular needs of the large Spanish-speaking population in the school's neighborhood, the school's research-based educational program is designed to teach Spanish-speaking students literacy in Spanish first and then in English. The school's English-speaking students will also learn Spanish. SENSE plans to use a computer-based multimedia program for students who have limited English proficiency. SENSE also plans to hire a bilingual instructor.
• This school will use the research-based Core Knowledge program, which focuses on reading, writing, and math and is designed to move sequentially from one topic to the next across grade levels. Teachers will work together to carefully link lessons from one year to the next.
• SENSE will supplement its Core Knowledge curriculum and materials with books in Spanish.
• Students also will learn about basic principles of constitutional government, key events in world history, essential elements of math and oral/written expression, masterpieces of art and music, and traditional stories and poems.
• Science will be taught through hands-on experiments, and math will be taught with an emphasis on everyday examples.
• Children at SENSE will learn about the local neighborhood's community and culture.
• SENSE plans to participate in the statewide charter school special education cooperative and will hire a licensed special education professional as a member of the school staff.
• The school will run weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with an optional extracurricular hour lasting until 5 p.m. The academic year will run from early August until early June.

• The local community development corporation, Southeast Neighborhood Development, Inc (SEND), has been integrally involved in the development of this school. SEND has rebuilt six major commercial buildings and has run extensive youth development programs in the neighborhood.
• The school's founding group is capable and has a strong vision. The diverse founding board's skills include community work, tax and finance, K-12 and higher education, and facilities development and financing.
• The founding group includes a leader of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership, parents, a local community activist, a former elementary school teacher, a former president of a parent-teacher-student association, an adult education specialist, a former public school superintendent, a special education expert, a financial analyst, a tax consultant, an architect, a real estate expert, a pediatrician, a health care foundation president, and the president of SEND.
• In addition to board oversight, SENSE receives advisory support from an outreach coordinator, a lawyer for the Community Organizations Legal Assistance Project, and a program officer with Local Initiatives Support Corporation.
• SENSE has demonstrated strong ties to the community, has substantial local representation on its board, and has assembled a broad contingent of supporters from the surrounding neighborhood.

• The school provides a well thought-out, detailed description of the roles and responsibilities of the board, lead staff, and instructors. A school administrator will oversee operational matters and an education program director will oversee academic matters.
• The board plans to evaluate its school leaders each year through a governance committee review; interviews with staff, parents, and partners; and school surveys.
• Through SEND's support, SENSE will have access to a range of experts to help in monitoring the school's performance and operations.
• The school will encourage parent and local resident participation in school monitoring and oversight through committees focused on governance, finance, education and curriculum, community outreach, and parent involvement. Each committee also will offer volunteer opportunities.

• Southeast Neighborhood Development, Inc. is the fiscal agent for SENSE. SEND has substantial experience managing multi-million dollar projects and maintains a healthy nonprofit financial rating.
• The SENSE board will play the primary role in overseeing financial planning, fundraising, and budget reviews.
• SENSE has already raised $85,000 for its start-up phase and has arranged for in-kind services from local philanthropic and corporate institutions.
• The school intends to lease space from Southeast Neighborhood Development, Inc. in a facility it would share with the 21st Century English Avenue School. Under this arrangement, Southeast Neighborhood School of Excellence and 21st Century English Avenue would each occupy approximately half the total building space.

• Local community groups such as SEND will help in recruitment efforts.
• SENSE will have a licensed special education professional on staff and will employ an English as a Second Language instructor. The school also plans to engage parents and volunteers from the community who speak both English and Spanish.
• To make the school accessible to multiple communities, SENSE has budgeted over $65,000 to lease two buses and employ part-time bus drivers.

Name and Proposed Position of Applicants

• Andrea Gilland—Authorized Representative, SENSE Co-Founder and Board Vice President
• Lee Lewellen—Board President
• Rosemily DeLeon Geyer—SENSE Board Secretary
• William Taft—SENSE Co-Founder and Board Member
• Jerry Kent—Board Member
• Howard Lacy—Board Member
• Gilbert Liu—Board Member
• Mark Pflum—Board Member
• Kimberly Wize—Board Member
• Theresa Wood-Hoyt—SENSE Co-Founder
• Susan Zapach— SENSE Board Member
• Rebecca Besser—SENSE Co-Founder and Board Member
• Dustin Campbell—SENSE Co-Founder and Board Treasurer
• Rachel Cooper—SENSE Co-Founder
• Libby Pfeiffer—Startup and Outreach Coordinator
• Mary Ann Lochner—Advisor providing Legal Assistance
• Rachel McIntosh—Advisor providing assistance as a program officer with Local Initiatives Support Corporation

Capacities Represented by Applicants (by topic area)

Education

• William Taft was instrumental in founding Oaks Academy, a parochial school.
• Jerry Kent served as an elementary teacher, school business manager, and public school superintendent.
• Howard Lacy has several years of elementary and junior high school teaching experience. He is currently the technology coordinator and curriculum coordinator at Park Tudor Lower School.
• Mark Pflum worked closely with the Modern Red School House project at the Hudson Institute, a whole-school reform model that has been adopted by several schools nationwide.
• Theresa Wood-Hoyt is the director of the Fletcher Place Community Center's Adult Center for Education. She trains parents in work force development and parenting skills.
• Susan Zapach has taught at the middle school and college level. She is currently a faculty member in the school of education and the Special Education Fellow at the Center of Excellence in Leadership of Learning at the University of Indianapolis. She is also an advisor to the Dyslexia Institute.
• Rosemily Geyer has experience as an ESL instructor.

Training

• Jerry Kent has a bachelors degree in elementary education, a masters degree in school administration and an education specialist degree in administration and supervision.
• Susan Zapach has a masters degree in curriculum and instruction and a bachelors degree in elementary education.

Other Youth Work

• Rebecca Besser served as a facilitator in the Annie E. Casey Family Circle Initiative.
• Howard Lacy is a tutor with Schools on Wheels.
• As a pediatrician, Gilbert Liu has particular experience in school-based health promotion and educational evaluation. He serves as a volunteer at the Indianapolis Trinity Free Clinic. He has also served as a counselor at several summer camps for children with life-threatening illnesses.
• Libby Pfeiffer has worked with the Marion County Juvenile Detention Center, as an AmeriCorps volunteer at a charter school in Ohio, and at the Peace and Learning Center in Indianapolis.
• Dustin Campbell serves as a mentor with Big Brother of Central Indiana.

Management

• Lee Lewellen is vice president of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership, Inc. Previously, he worked for the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce as a program director for the Partners in Education program, small business coordinator, director of research, and vice president for public policy. He also has served as an adjunct faculty member at several local universities teaching classes on sociology and futurism.
• Rachel McIntosh, a program officer with Local Initiatives Support Corporation, is providing assistance with organizational and project development. She has worked with other charter schools during their startup phase.
• Rebecca Besser worked for many years at BMG Music where she was responsible for workflow coordination and quality control.

Training

• Mark Pflum has a bachelors degree in business management and administration.
• Libby Pfeiffer has completed coursework in non-profit management at Indiana University.

Entrepreneurship

• Jerry Kent started a real estate and construction management business.

Fundraising

• Mark Pflum is president and CEO of St. Francis Healthcare Foundation where he is responsible for management and development. He has also managed marketing, communications, and development for the Hudson Institute and worked as the district director raising money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
• As president of Southeast Neighborhood Development, Inc., William Taft has raised and invested over $25 million in the Greater Fountain Square Area of Indianapolis.

Finance / Accounting

• Dustin Campbell is a financial analyst at Eli Lilly. Prior to that he was an investment banker with SunTrust Equitable Securities.
• Rosemily DeLeon Geyer is a senior tax consultant at Ernst & Young.

Training

• Dustin Campbell has a bachelors degree in finance from Indiana University.
• Rosemily DeLeon Geyer has a bachelors degree in business administration and accounting from the College of William and Mary. She also has passed the CPA exam.

Marketing / Public Relations

• Mark Pflum managed marketing, communications, and development for the Hudson Institute.

Legal Expertise

• Mary Ann Lochner is providing legal assistance through the Community Lawyering Project. She has experience in corporate and nonprofit law.

Training

• Mary Ann Lochner has a law degree from Indiana University.

• Kimberly Wize is the executive director of the Indiana Housing Finance Authority, appointed by the governor in 2000. She also serves as president and chairman of the Indiana Equity Fund, Inc., an investment fund for affordable multi-family rental housing.
• Jerry Kent is a member of the Rush County Council.

Nonprofit Governance

• Andrea Gilland serves on the board of the Southeast Neighborhood Development and Fountain Area Community Team.
• William Taft has served as the President of Southeast Neighborhood Development, Inc. since 1991. He is a member of the Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee, the Affordable Housing Advisory Council of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis, the Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership, the Mayor's Housing Task Force, and the Indianapolis Housing Trust Fund.
• Dustin Campbell serves on the board of Southeast Neighborhood Development, Inc. and is board treasurer of Fletcher Place Community Center.
• Rachel Cooper serves on the United Way Impact Council, the Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee, the Community Court Planning Council and the City Wide Weed and Seed Board. She is also President of the South East Community Organization and Southeast Umbrella Organization.
• Gilbert Liu serves on the board of the National Institute for Fitness and Sport.
• Kimberly Wize is a board member for the National Council of State Housing Agencies, the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Central Indiana, and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation.
• Rosemily Geyer is on the board of IndyReads.
• Lee Lewellen is a member of several community development organizations and is on the board of the Indiana Information Technology Association.
• Mark Pflum has served on the board of the Kiwanis Club and the Perry Township Athletic Association.
• Mary Ann Lochner has served on the board of the Saint Christopher Center, the Indianapolis Ten Point Coalition, and the Francis House.