Charter Renewal Application Form Created: 11/04/2019 • Last updated: 01/03/2020 You may find it helpful to reference the school's current charter contract as you complete this form. All charter contracts are available here.You may also want to refer to the school's performance on the SCSC Comprehensive Performance Framework. School results can be found here. The projected timeline can be viewed at the link below. Timeline for 2020 Renewals Applicant Information School Name Georgia Cyber Academy Nonprofit Yes Mailing Address - Address 1 1745 Phoenix Blvd, Suite 100 Address 2 (No response) City Atlanta State GA Zip 30349 Physical Address - Address 1 1745 Phoenix Blvd, Suite 100 Address 2 (No response) City Atlanta State GA Zip 30349 Contact Person Name Joy Peterson Contact Person Phone 404-334-4790, ext. 2417 Contact Person Email jpeterson@georgiacyber.org 1 / 12 Mission For current mission, please provide the mission stated in the school's current charter contract. Current Mission Do you want to change the school's mission? Please state your new proposed mission Georgia Cyber Academy provides and supports an interactive virtual learning environment to support individualized and differentiated student-centered educational experiences serving students from kindergarten through the 12th grade. Yes Georgia Cyber Academy provides an interactive virtual educational environment to support individualized and differentiated student-centered learning from kindergarten through the 12th grade. Innovative Features For current innovative features, you may reference the "Essential or Innovative Features" section of the school's current charter contract. Current Innovative Features Do you want to change any of your innovative features? Please describe the proposed changes to your innovative features. The Charter School serves students in grades K-12 with a virtual, child-centered educational program in which students throughout Georgia utilize the online environment to construct their own learning experiences. Yes GCA serves kindergarten through 12th grade students utilizing an interactive virtual platform. A variety of research based, online and digital curriculum and resources support students and teachers. The educational environment and learning path are structured to meet state standards and rigor expectations yet tailored to meet the individual needs of students. Differentiated experiences are available and reflective of individual student growth and achievement to ensure the success of all students. To extend the innovative virtual nature of GCA the district has redefined what level of flexibility in relation to engagement is inherent and what is earned based on clearly defined achievement and engagement expectations. Student academic proficiency, overall school performance, and compliance to district policies is measured through objective data collection and review. GCA is building a multi-tiered support system to effectively address academic deficits. This is critical to overall school success because GCA serves a significant population of academically at-risk students. 2 / 12 School Attendance Zone The school's attendance zone may be found in the current charter contract. Please ensure that these answers are reflective of the information contained in the charter contract. Is your current attendance zone defined or statewide? Statewide Do you want to change your attendance zone if renewed? No Student Enrollment Please note - "student enrollment" refers only to the number of students enrolled in the school. The current charter contract contains information regarding the school's current minimum and maximum student enrollment. How many students does the school currently serve? 9211 If renewed, do you want to increase or decrease the number of students served within the existing grades? Yes Describe the increase or decrease in students served. Provide a description of how many students will be served at each grade level. Georgia Cyber Academy is not requesting a change in the enrollment caps set in its original contract with the SCSC. The Board of GCA put in place a policy that would strategically regulate its year over year enrollment for operational efficiency, to minimize instructional disruption, allow for strategic planning, and to self-regulate itself based on how well it served its stakeholders year over year. The Board projected that the policy's parameters and caveats would drop its enrollment in the short-term to between 8,000 and 9,000 students before the trend would reverse itself. The enrollment trend reversal would have begun this year except for the unforeseen obstacles that GCA encountered as a result of actions taken by its previous EMO. We anticipate over the next three years returning to our previous years' enrollment count highs. Following current GCA Board policy, enrollment caps have been defined by grade level. No grade level will exceed 2,000 students. GCA will at any time enroll children of board members, staff, faculty, siblings of existing students, and homeless students regardless of cap limits. If at any time the law allows a preference for students of military families, this policy may be amended to be inclusive of this group. Additionally, a cap has been set to limit the number of students enrolled that are new to GCA in 3rd-12th grades. In kindergarten- 2nd grade there is no new student enrollment cap. In 3rd-12th grades the percentage cap of new students over sustained student enrollment from the previous year is 3 / 12 set at 20% in 3rd-5th grades, 30% in 6th grade, 20% in 7th8th grades, 30% in 9th grade, 10% in 10th grade, and 5% in 11th-12th grades. Requested total student enrollment if fully enrolled. This is the number of students the school would serve in the last year of its new charter. Provide a rationale for increasing or decreasing your student enrollment. 14700 While GCA’s enrollment has declined significantly in the last two years due to policy changes and other factors, it is anticipated that enrollment may begin to increase again over the course of the renewal period. The intended result of the current enrollment policy is that the school’s growth is directly limited based on how well it is serving its sustained population of students. Limiting population growth allows time for the school to identify needs and improvements to provide exemplary service. Overall, this will allow Georgia Cyber Academy to better determine that its educational model is appropriate for the students it served. Limiting the number of new students enrolled will ensure students are exceptionally prepared to succeed in a virtual school environment. Total enrollment caps will allow administrators to continuously support, train, and prepare staff in the field of virtual education. Grades Served "Grades Served" refers to the range of grade bands currently served at the school (e.g. K - 8). What grades does the school currently serve? (from) K What grades does the school currently serve? (through) 12 If renewed, do you want to serve additional or fewer grades? No Third-Party Partnerships Do you currently contract with any third-parties (e.g. ESP, University, local district, etc.) for the provision of academic or operational services? No 4 / 12 Requested Renewal Length Are you requesting a 5-year renewal? No Describe what length renewal you are requesting. 3-year renewal Provide a rationale for your proposed renewal length. GCA is requesting a three-year renewal. Since taking over management of GCA from its third-party management company and now separating from this provider completely, GCA has finally begun to see the significant student achievement growth that we all believed was possible. Three years would provide GCA the time to collect data and substantiate that the changes and interventions implemented in the current educational model are increasing student achievement and overall school success. Additional Information Describe any other proposed changes that would affect the school’s operation, such as new facilities, enrollment priorities, and services provided to students (i.e. transportation, food service). In the 2018-19 and 2019-20 school years, GCA has implemented comprehensive changes to expand the capacity and effectiveness of school leaders, teachers, and to the provision of educational services to students. Data is driving the changes as they are dynamic and updated as needs are identified. Increased student achievement and overall school success is at the core of all decisions and changes during the planning, implementation, and data effectiveness determinations. In 2018-19, GCA implemented a board policy limiting overall student enrollment and the number of new students enrolled in each grade level served. As discussed in detail in the enrollment section these policies are intended to better assure that the educational model is appropriate for the students that are enrolled. The enrollment limitations will allow administrators to scale the school's framework and services to best meet the needs of the student population. Data will be continuously evaluated to determine the effectiveness of the policies implemented. GCA has also implemented an engagement policy aimed at ensuring all students are actively engaged in the educational program. While GCA offers a highly structured educational program, flexibility and program differentiation is available as directed by need and achievement. However, it is important to note that students must follow strict guidelines and expectations for program engagement. Flexibility is earned and directly correlates with individual academic performance. Students can earn full flexibility (least restrictive) to traditional structure (most restrictive) based on individual performance on EOC/EOG assessments, course grades, completion of assignments/meeting deadlines, and performance on additional prescribed benchmarks or 5 / 12 assessments. Student engagement in kindergarten-2nd grade is assigned as either moderate flexibility or traditional class structure. In other grades it is leveled as full flexibility, extended flexibility, moderate flexibility, limited flexibility, or traditional class structure. An Academic Review Board is now in place to ensure compliance and fidelity to board policies and school expectations at the student level. A team of Family Success Liaisons is in place to ensure all students and families are connected to the school. They build relationships and extend school connections. All students are assigned a Family Success Liaison. Families and students contact their Family Success Liaison for a wide range of assistance, supports, and needs. An Instructional Support Service Director was added at the district level. This position focuses on providing oversight, compliance, and guidance to the Student Support Team structures and Response to Intervention Process. GCA currently serves approximately 2,800 students participating in the Response to Intervention process. While bringing cohesiveness to the overall Response to Intervention Program this additional director will also provide oversight to Credit Recovery, Summer School, and the 504 Program. Additionally, in 2018-19 an Assessment protocol was implemented to ensure the integrity of the data collected to include monitored benchmark assessments. Students are video monitored during critical data collection assessments. Fidelity in assessment data will allow GCA to more successfully make data predictions to determine need-based changes and inform classroom instruction. As noted above, the most significant change at GCA has been the Board’s assumption of the management of the school in 2018-19 and its replacement of its service provider’s curriculum, platform and delivery tool in 2019-20. Since the start of the 2018-19 school year, a new head of school has been in place at GCA to drive change and direct school improvement. She has built a team of leaders and restructured the organization at the school and district level. All organizational changes are designed to better meet the needs of faculty/staff, provide direct leadership and support, and ensure all leaders are highly trained in their field. In 2018-19, 11 out of 15 top leadership positions were new to their positions and charged with increasing student results and creating an exemplary virtual education model. They all bring vast education, experience, knowledge, and abilities to the school. In 2019-20, GCA replaced its curriculum, platform and 6 / 12 delivery tools in order to provide its teachers and students with content that is more user friendly, engaging, and better aligned to Georgia standards. The feedback from teachers and students alike has been very positive and the cost savings from purchasing the same products from the former management company is significant. In the last school year alone, this change saved GCA approximately $18 million. GCA anticipates that this cost savings will allow the school to repurpose those funds in other ways that will drive student achievement forward during the three-year renewal period. Comprehensive Performance Framework Results Complete the tables below using your school's Comprehensive Performance Framework results. A copy of the most recent CPF results is available here. Academic Score For 2018-19, academic data is not yet available to generate your final CPF score. SCSC staff will communicate the school's academic standing as early as possible. Score of 70 - 100 pts. Meets Academic Performance Standards Score of 0 - 69 pts. Does Not Meet Academic Performance Standards CPF Score Met Standards? 2015-16 1 No 2016-17 1 No 2017-18 0 No Financial Score 2018-19 results will be provided via email prior to the application deadline. Score of 75 - 100 pts. Meets Financial Performance Standards Score of 0 - 74 pts. Does Not Meet Financial Performance Standards CPF Score Met Standards? 2015-16 75 Yes 2016-17 75 Yes 2017-18 75 Yes 2018-19 85 Yes 7 / 12 Operational Score 2018-19 results will be provided via email prior to the application deadline. Score of 80 - 100 pts. Meets Operational Performance Standards Score of 0 - 79 Does Not Meet Operational Performance Standards CPF Score Met Standards? 2015-16 92 Yes 2016-17 100 Yes 2017-18 100 Yes 2018-19 93 Yes Academic Score Determination Did the school meet academic standards at least 3 out of 4 years? If the school is awaiting 2018-19 results to determine whether standards were met in at least 3 out of 4 years, please select "TBD" from the dropdown. If the school did not meet standards at least 2 times in prior years (2015-16, 2016-17 or 2017-18), please select "no". If the school met academic standards in all prior years (2015-16, 2016-17 or 2017-18), please select "yes". No The school did not meet SCSC expectations for renewal in this category. Financial Score Determination Did the school meet financial Yes standards at least 3 out of 4 years? Congratulations, the school met SCSC expectations for renewal in this category. Operational Score Determination Did the school meet operational Yes standards at least 3 out of 4 years? 8 / 12 Congratulations, the school met SCSC expectations for renewal in this category. The school failed to meet SCSC expectations for renewal. Please explain any mitigating factors and the school’s attempts to remediate identified issues. (Optional) To the extent a school chooses to utilize this opportunity to discuss mitigating factors that may have impacted school performance, the school should discuss only external or dynamic events outside the school's control. Mitigating factors outside of the school’s control include, but are not limited to, natural disasters, acts of terror or war, or other acts or interference by third parties in the school’s operation. A school should not utilize this opportunity to discuss issues within the school’s control, such as general or specific governance and leadership decisions or the difficulty or complexity of the school’s educational program and strategy. Additionally, a school should not utilize this opportunity to discuss the demographics or composition of the school’s student population as measures within the academic portion of the SCSC Comprehensive Framework account for unique student populations. Any consequences or impact on student achievement, whether direct or indirect, resulting from factors within the control of the school will not be considered a viable excuse for a school’s failure to meet expectations. Keep in mind we are aware of improvement plans presented at each annual performance presentation before Commissioners. Please limit your answer to actions taken outside these improvement plans. Or, to the extent these answers do not differ from your presented improvement plans, you may leave this question blank. In the initial four years of the charter contract, the board was precluded from fully realizing its oversight duties through a combination of misinformation, omitted/skewed data, and lack of transparency as perpetrated by K12, Inc. and its employed district administrative leadership. Additionally, contractual parameters limited the board’s ability to govern independently and change direction. Artificial barriers and obstacles created by the contracted Educational Management Organization impeded the directives and requests of the board from being followed and/or fully implemented. During the fourth year, the board removed and replaced the head of school and hired an Executive Director, Michael Kooi, to answer directly to the Board and to act as the Board’s eyes, ears and voice at the school level. The Executive Director substantiated the concerns that were identified in the academic oversight report and validated the need for immediate and direct intervention. This led to the Board’s determination that its policies and directions were being resisted by K12 Inc’s employed district leadership. As a result, the K12 Inc. employed Head of School replacement was asked to resign. Angela Lassetter, former board member and Georgia Cyber Academy parent was then assigned the role of Head of School. Her knowledge of best practices in various educational environments, business experience, and understanding of the GCA Board’s goals for the school has already begun to have a 9 / 12 positive and significant impact on GCA’s student performance. As a self-managed entity, GCA and its governing board has, for the first time in the school’s existence, been able to ensure that its policies are being implemented with fidelity, that its curriculum is aligned and engaging, and that its finances are being directed toward increasing student achievement rather than increasing profit. The GCA Board recognizes the hard work, dedication, and commitment of its leadership, faculty, staff, and students. We value the body of work created by our dedicated faculty and staff and recognize the critical need to continue to make flexible and innovative educational opportunities like the one provided by GCA available to students across the state of Georgia. While we recognize that online education may not be the best option for many students in our state, it is clearly the best option for a significant minority of students, and therefore, should be preserved. We are confident that the changes we are making, as referenced above, will allow GCA to be an effective option to meet that need and to eventually become a virtual education model for the nation. Other Information (optional) Use this space to provide any other information you feel the SCSC needs to know. In the 2018-19 school year Georgia Cyber Academy (GCA) is recording significant strides in areas that will increase academic achievement, school success and overall compliance in the long run. One of Angela Lassetter’s first initiatives as newly appointed Head of School was to conduct a review of the organizational structure, operational procedures, human resource capacity, and directive manuals. Amendments are being made and procedures are being sharpened to better serve the needs of students and maintain measures of compliance. Additionally, in 2018-19 GCA fully implemented the Board’s Engagement Policy, increasing expectations for full student engagement and compliance with program requirements. Live class attendance is required as leveled by student proficiency. An extreme increase in live class attendance has been noted at the level of double-digit percentage increases, year over year. GCA is confident that continued efforts in this area will significantly increase student achievement over time. In 2018-19, the Family Compliance Team made important contributions to school improvement. This team has defined new parameters to successfully measure and monitor attendance and engagement in a virtual school setting. Past attendance data as compared to achievement data has continuously shown that attendance cannot effectively be measured at GCA comparatively to methods used in Brick and Mortar school settings. To be effective, attendance in a virtual school must include indicators of engagement and compliance. In 2018-19 the Family Compliance Team created and implemented new methods to measure attendance that make sense in a virtual school environment. Effectiveness of this work and board policy was notable during the 2018-19 school year and continues to show an impact on student academic performance. GCA is passionate about continuing its focused efforts on family compliance and its impact on long term school improvement. 10 / 12 It also became apparent that a process was needed to actively support students that are not fully engaging and meeting compliance expectations while at the same time holding them accountable to school requirements and policies. In 2018-19 the Family Compliance Team implemented Academic Review Boards in all grade spans. In a structured way, the Academic Review Board communicates expectations to students with attendance, compliance, and engagement concerns. Students are given explicit directions and targeted interventions to assist them in meeting expectations. Support networks of teachers, administrators, Family Success Liaisons, and others come together to ensure students are supported. A probationary period is given to students to show they can comply in identified areas of concern. Students that do not comply with Academic Review Board directives are ultimately withdrawn. Procedures and forms were created to ensure process fidelity. A process is now incorporated into the overall program that tracks, measures, and substantiates the enforcement of policy. In 2018-19 GCA committed to ensuring that all students are receiving a high-quality education in a program that is a good fit for their individual needs. It was also identified that GCA needed to increase the identification and early support of academically atrisk students. This led to a thorough review of the Response to Intervention process as implemented in a virtual environment. This review substantiated the need for better practices in the identification of struggling students and corresponding tier placement. It is critical to note that GCA serves a high population of academically at-risk students. One Third of the student population was identified Response to Intervention Tier II or higher. A more holistic approach to scheduling was necessary. GCA is now better identifying where remediation needs to begin and developing plans to meet the needs of individual students. GCA found success in 2018-19 with large-scale, focused interventions. This was just the beginning of a full overhaul of the Early Intervention Program classes and Response to Intervention processes now being initiated in the 2019-20 school year. To ensure the success of this movement an Instructional Support Services Director was hired to restructure and increase the effectiveness of this team. A complete departure from practices that do not effectively target the current population or are not contributing to academic gains is necessary. Targeted interventions, critical staffing placements, monitoring protocols, academic supports, and program re-structuring is underway and will be fully realized in 2020-21. GCA is committed to targeted change initiatives that meet the needs of the children we serve. GCA is working to improve internal and external communication. At the district level leaders are collaborating weekly to bridge gaps, share concerns, and problem solve. A weekly time is set-aside for leaders to directly focus on operational management. Additionally, a weekly meeting is held for academic leaders to meet, collaborate, and plan. Also, department leadership and staff meetings are held weekly for the purpose of professional development, data review, and operational compliance. Various departments are working together to target the shared goal of improved academic achievement and school effectiveness. 11 / 12 GCA is also working to refine external communication. In 2018-19 a new and improved website was launched to provide better communication for stakeholders and extend the presence of GCA in the academic community. To monitor progress and ensure success a Communications and Public Relations Director was hired and is continuing improvements. GCA is committed to providing transparent, accessible, and relative communication to all stakeholders. GCA is working hard to identify and retain staff that is committed to the changes that are necessary to continue the good work it is doing for Georgia’s children. Leadership is committed to defining best practices in virtual education as established in the largest public school in Georgia. Students in Georgia need the educational option and opportunity of GCA to be maintained. While we continue to address apparent concerns for low performing students it is imperative to note that many children have found success, excel, and exceed educational expectations at GCA. The GCA Board, teachers, leaders, and most importantly its students need time to see that the drastic changes and programs initiated in 2019-2020 will continue to improve its academic outcomes and ultimately meet its stakeholders’ expectations. 12 / 12