Great Schools for Nevada Charter School Program
Great Schools for Nevada Charter School Program
Great Schools for Nevada is a federal Charter School Program (CSP) Grant facilitated by Opportunity 180 to lead the launch and expansion of high-quality public charter schools across our state. As a public education champion and advocacy organization based in Southern Nevada, one key portion of our work is to seek out, vet, and support innovative leaders and high-performing school models. The CSP Grant represents significant funds available to help Nevada expand opportunities for students to attend excellent public charter schools that prepare them for both college and career. The Great Schools for Nevada project has three objectives:
- Increase the number of high-quality new, replicated, or expanded public charter schools serving the most at-risk student populations
- Establish Nevada’s charter sector as a leader in authorizing quality and academic performance
- Evaluate, collect, and widely disseminate the successes and lessons of high-quality charter schools to impact the broader public education system
The CSP Grant provides financial assistance to State Entities to support charter schools that serve elementary and secondary schools in a given state. Under the program,Opportunity 180 makes subgrants to eligible applicants for the purpose of opening new public charter schools, as well as replicating or expanding high-quality public charter schools. Grant funds may also be used to provide technical assistance to eligible applicants and authorized public chartering agencies in opening new charter schools and replicating and expanding high-quality charter schools, and to work with authorized public chartering agencies to improve authorizing quality, including developing capacity for, and conducting, fiscal oversight and auditing of charter schools.
The Great Schools for Nevada CSP, awarded to Opportunity 180 as Nevada’s State Entity, is a competitive grant process. To ensure alignment of efforts and avoid duplication of work for maximum impact, Opportunity 180 will consult quarterly with an Advisory Committee, which includes representatives from the Nevada Department of Education, the Charter School Association of Nevada (CSAN), and the State Public Charter School Authority (SPCSA). Opportunity 180 will fund only high-quality public charter school plans, and subgrant determinations will be made through a rigorous third-party peer review process. There is no guarantee that submitting a proposal will result in funding, or funding at the required levels. Proposals that do not meet a minimum score will not be funded. Awards are determined on need, which includes approved student enrollment at full capacity, facility’s ability to accommodate that number of students, and a school’s score on the Great Schools Nevada CSP rubric.
Depending on the need and criteria being met, schools qualify for a percentage (up to $1 million in funds) and a percentage of the accelerator (up to $500,000). If you are interested in learning more, explore our “How to Apply for a Federal Charter School Start-Up Grant” section below.
How to Apply for a Federal Charter School Start-Up Grant
Great Schools for Nevada Federal CSP will provide sub-grants to qualified public charter schools to provide financial support for the initial implementation of expanding, replicating, or opening a public charter school.
- “Expand” is defined as an increase in the student count of an existing school by a significant amount.
- “Replicate” means to open a new charter school, or a new campus of a high-quality charter school, based on the educational model of an existing high-quality charter school under an additional charter.
- A new public charter school is either a new start-up school that did not previously exist or a charter school that has substantially changed its model and/or staff in order to increase academic performance as part of a turnaround process.
Great Schools for Nevada CSP subgrants are designed to be for a period of up to 18 months for planning and 24 consecutive months for implementation activities leading up to and following the opening of a new school, replication school, or expansion project. The process to apply begins with a high stakes letter of intent and eligibility review. Applicants that meet the letter of intent criteria and eligibility review will be invited to apply. All federal definitions are included in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
CSP Technical Assistance Resources
Charter School Program (CSP) grant-funded technical assistance is provided to subgrantees on timely topics throughout their grant terms. Anyone may access the resources and recordings of past technical assistance offerings below. Ideas for future technical assistance? Email greatschoolsnvcsp@opportunity180.org!
| TA Category | Date | Session Title | Provider | Links |
| Board Governance | 6/28/22 | Charter School Board Governance Training | Education Board Partners | Deck |
| Board Governance | 2/8/23 | Committee Structure for Charter School Boards | BoardOnTrack | Deck |
| Charter Leader Convening | 1/11/24 | Charter Leader Convening | Opportunity 180 | Participant Guide |
| Charter Leader Convening | 2/9/23 | Charter Leader Convening | Opportunity 180 | 2023 Charter Leader Convening |
| Grant Management | 7/26/22 | CSP Technical Assistance Continuation Award Training | Opportunity 180 | Deck |
| Grant Management | 9/15/23 | Basecamp Reimbursement Training | Opportunity 180 | Deck |
| Recruitment/Enrollment | 2/1/23 | Enrollment Playbook | Lyman Miller – Bloomwell Group | Recording |
| Recruitment/Enrollment | 5/31/22 | Recruiting and Marketing Session | Lyman Miller – Bloomwell Group | Deck |
| School Operations | January – October 2024 | SchoolOps Community of Practice | SchoolOps | Flier |
| Transportation | 9/14/23 | Implementation Workshop | 4MATIV | Deck |
| Transportation | 7/6/23 | Transportation Application | 4MATIV | Deck |
