![]() ![]() Not only does NEO serve schools statewide, they serve a very diverse portfolio of schools that serve a very diverse student population, which is also part of their mission. That way, they don’t need to duplicate services by sending documents to NEO and to the state yet we know the school has met the requirement.” “One of the useful services with Epicenter is that schools get a heads-up on what is due to the state and can then check a box to certify that they submitted a document on time. Twenty documents from 23 schools is a lot of paperwork! If it weren’t for Epicenter we would be spending our time on the phone with the schools trying to figure out who submitted what and when, leaving little time for feedback or sharing.” ![]() “We have a list of 20-30 documents we must collect and review from each school throughout the year. “I can’t imagine overseeing 23 schools in a meaningful and useful way without Epicenter,” Swanson Choi said. NEO’s new schools will face the upcoming school year with the same positive outlook as their more established counterparts with strong enrollment and with strong academic growth, proficiency, or both-thanks in part to the effective practices that schools have shared with them. NEO was able to provide meaningful and useful feedback and facilitate the sharing of effective practices with these schools to support their work in meeting student needs. These schools had strong first years in academic and financial performance. One of the exciting things about NEO is that it has 10 new schools, eight of which are already in operation. “Thanks to Epicenter, we have been able to reduce time in collecting documents and free up our time to provide meaningful and useful feedback to schools and facilitate sharing to reach more students with a higher quality education.” “Epicenter has given us the ability to collect information, organize it, secure it, and review it,” Swanson Choi said. NEO has also been using Epicenter for over four years and has found that Epicenter helps it fulfill its mission. “The idea was that charter schools would find more effective and efficient ways to meet student needs and share that information, so everyone could learn through sharing effective practices.” “One thing that makes us unique is that, in our focus on academic performance, we also facilitate sharing, which was a main impetus for charter schools in Minnesota,” said Wendy Swanson Choi, NEO’s Executive Director. Therefore, many authorizers chose not to continue and NEO received a number of schools through transfers, in addition to starting 10 new schools since that time. ![]() In 2009, the laws governing charters changed in Minnesota more requirements were placed on authorizers, making it difficult for some to continue. Prior to 2010, there were more than 50 authorizers in Minnesota now there are 14. ![]() Its mission is “to authorize and oversee charter schools through consistent, ongoing and robust evaluation to achieve significant and measurable student growth.” NEO was approved by the Minnesota Department of Education as a single-purpose authorizer and, therefore, is not part of a larger organization or part of another non-profit. NEO currently authorizes 23 charter schools. In 2009 NEO formed as a nonprofit corporation and began authorizing schools in 2010. Early on Minnesotans realized the transformational power of charter schools, and they looked to charters to improve and strengthen education throughout Minnesota. While the Mall of America, hockey, and snow might be the first thing that comes to mind when people think of Minnesota, it is also one of the founding states of the charter school movement. Located in the North Star State, Novation Education Opportunities (NEO) is a leading authorizer of innovative, diverse, and effective charter schools throughout Minnesota. This feature will focus on educators who are using Epicenter and are making a difference in their communities. ![]()
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