Charter School Superstars

Latest Episodes:

Ep 26: Strategies to boost charter school enrollment with Lyman Millard of Bloomwell Group May 01, 2019

Show notes

This week, Ryan sits down with Lyman Millard, the founding partner of Bloomwell Group. With over twenty years of experience in the field of charter education, Lyman strives to help high performing charter schools and non-profit organizations find solutions to any strategic challenges. Lyman talks to Ryan about strategies to help charter schools boost their enrollment and also talks about his work with the National Charter School Conference (June 30-July 3 in Las Vegas, visit ncsc.publiccharters.org).
https://www.bloomwellgroup.com/
Host: Ryan Kairalla (@ryankair)
Producer: Ross Ulysse

Ep 25: Camino Nuevo Charter Academy CLO Heather McManus talks about her schools and strengthening the teaching profession Apr 24, 2019

Show notes

This week, Ryan sits down with Heather McManus, the Chief Learning Officer for Camino Nuevo Charter Academy. Heather talks to Ryan about how Camino Nuevo strives to have positive impact in its community by implementing a learning culture based on college prep, social justice, and ethnic studies. Heather also provides her thoughts on the professionalization of teaching and what the education system can do to develop effective teachers. Find out more about Camino Nuevo Charter Academy by visiting www.caminonuevo.org.
Host: Ryan Kairalla (@ryankair)
Producer: Ross Ulysse

Ep 24: Improving teacher retention through mentorship with Dr. Sarah Boulous Fye of Somerset Academy Apr 17, 2019

Show notes

This week, Ryan sits down with Sarah Boulos Fye of Somerset Academy, Inc.. In addition to being Ryan's podcasting co-host on "Big Ideas in Education" on Academica Media, Dr. Fye is also the Director of Strategic Planning and Academic Achievement for the Somerset Academy Charter School Network. Sarah talks to Ryan about her research in the area of teacher retention. Specifically, Sarah and Ryan discuss the role that mentorship and peer relationships play in keeping teachers in the profession. Great insight this week from a fantastic administrator and scholar!
Host: Ryan Kairalla (@ryankair)

Ep 23: Kelly Pierce talks to us about charter high schools complying with NCAA eligibility regulations Apr 10, 2019

Show notes

This week, Ryan sits down with Kelly Pierce. Kelly is a former student athlete, academic advisor, and charter school teacher. Today, she is the CEO of Pierce Plan, a company that offers a Software as a Service platform that helps high schools track student academic progress toward NCAA initial eligibility requirements. Kelly talks to Ryan about her platform and the challenges that charter high schools face in making sure that their student athletes comply with NCAA admission eligibility regulations. She offers some great advice for school leaders in this area.
Host: Ryan Kairalla (@ryankair)

Ep 22: Breaking down Florida's annual charter school report with Lynn Norman-Teck of the Florida Charter School Alliance Apr 03, 2019

Show notes

This week, Ryan sits down with Lynn Norman-Teck, executive director of the Florida Charter School Alliance, to discuss the latest annual FLDOE charter school performance report. In the report, the Department reviewed over 4.2 million student state test scores and other performance data and concluded that the state’s public charter schools outperformed Florida’s traditional public schools in 82% of the grade level performance comparison metrics examined, and 92% of the learning gain metrics examined. Ryan talks to Lynn about her impressions of the report, how public charter schools have improved since the passage of Florida's first public charter school law, and what the report's findings mean for public education as a whole.
Host: Ryan Kairalla (@ryankair)

Ep 21: How recording artist and charter school student Mercedes Ferreira-Dias conquered "The Voice," and the classroom Mar 27, 2019

Show notes

This week, Ryan talks to recording artist and charter school student Mercedes Ferreira-Dias. Mercedes is a star student at the Mater Academy Lakes charter school in Miami Lakes, Florida, but she became something of a TV star recently when she made it through the blind auditions on season 15 of NBC's "The Voice" and sang for Blake Shelton's team on the program. We talk to Mercedes about her experience on the show and how her charter school experience helped foster her success. She also talks to us about her future college plans, which involve a dual-degree admission to Harvard and the Berklee College of Music. Download CSS this week and find out more about this incredible student and artist.
Host: Ryan Kairalla (@ryankair)

Ep 20: Children's book author Timmy Bauer talks about inspiring students to become writers and artists Mar 20, 2019

Show notes

This week, Ryan chats with acclaimed children's book author Timmy Bauer. In addition to being the creative mind behind the "Billy the Dragon" adventure story, Timmy is also a performer and the host of the Books for Kids Podcast. Timmy travels the country visiting schools (including many charter schools) to encourage students to unlock their creative potential. Timmy talks to Ryan about his work, what schools can do to better prepare students to become writers and illustrators, and the biggest misconceptions that people have about writing for children. Find out more about Timmy's work by visiting www.billythedragon.com.
Host: Ryan Kairalla (@ryankair)

Ep 19: Keeping our charter schools safe and secure with William Tagle of Tagle and Associates Mar 13, 2019

Show notes

This week, Ryan sits down with noted security expert William Tagle of Tagle and Associates to talk about how to keep our charter schools safe. Mr. Tagle was an officer with the Miami-Dade County Public Schools police for 25 years and today provides security consulting services for public and private schools. In the year since the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, school safety has been a topic at the top of every educator's mind, and charter schools face unique challenges in making sure that their students can learn in a secure environment. We talk to Mr. Tagle about those challenges, and he gives us actionable strategies for schools to have effective safety practices.
Host: Ryan Kairalla (@ryankair)

Ep 18: Curtis Valentine of Reinventing America's Schools: Is School Choice the Black Choice? Mar 06, 2019

Show notes

This week, Ryan sits down with education reformer Curtis Valentine. Curtis is the Deputy Director, Reinventing America’s Schools at the Progressive Policy Institute and is also an at-large board member for the Prince George’s County Public School District. Last month, Curtis was a panelist at the "Is School Choice the Black Choice" Atlanta town hall hosted by Roland Martin and sponsored by The 74. On this episode, Curtis recaps the panel and provides insightful perspective on the historical roots and modern outlook of school choice and charter education in the Black community. Curtis also talks about his work as his school board member and provides actionable strategies to find common ground with other education policymakers and enact effective education policy.
You can watch the "Is School Choice the Black Choice" panel by clicking here: https://www.the74million.org/article/watch-live-is-school-choice-the-black-choice-atlanta-town-hall/
Host: Ryan Kairalla (@ryankair)

Ep 17: We interview Ron Rice, Jr., Senior Director of Government Relations for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools Feb 27, 2019

Show notes

This week, Ryan sits down with NAPCS Senior Director of Government Relations Ron Rice, Jr.. Ron talks about his work at the National Alliance and what it means to advocate for pro-charter policy at the federal level with a Congress that seems more polarized than ever. Ron and Ryan also discuss how charter education policy affected the 2018 mid-term elections and how it is poised to influence the 2020 presidential race. Ron also discusses his annual School Leaders of Color event and his admirable work to amplify the minority voice in charter education. Find out more about Ron's work by visiting www.publiccharters.org.
Host: Ryan Kairalla (@ryankair)

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