School-to-School Sharing Overview
MAPCS School-to-School Collaborations include a number of initiatives, such as best-practice sharing, collaborations between charter schools and traditional schools, and the development of “promising practices” briefs by charter schools. A request for proposal (RFP) process will enable charter school operators to submit proposals for year-long collaborations between one or more schools. Charter schools can also document their promising practices and share them through webinars or other methods. Trainings are may be open to both charter and traditional schools, depending on the offering.
Proposals now being accepted for the 2025 Collaborative Collaborative Technical Assistance Project
Proposals for Dissemination of Practice, School-to-School Technical Assistance and Professional Development
RFP Due: January 10, 2025 or a project start date of February 1, 2025 and August 30, 2025 for a project start date of October 1, 2025
Estimated funding Amounts: $10,000 to $30,000.
Applications now being accepted for the 2024-27 school-to-school sharing stipend
This is a chance to share resources and information resulting from programs developed at public charter schools. It’s also an opportunity to forge partnerships with other public charter and non-charter public schools by implementing key successful programs, projects and practices.
Click here to download a flyer to distribute to your team.
Applications for stipends are being accepted on a rolling basis.
Stipends
Request for Proposal
A stipend of $500 will be given to selected charter schools that are providing a promising practice brief or one-time learning opportunity of 4 hours or less.
A stipend of $1,000 will be given to selected schools offering a full day offering or an offering that includes a follow-up learning opportunity or other follow-up activities, like check-ins or school visits.
Note, there are no designated use of funds required. The funds will be released upon submission of the Reporting Form after the brief is finalized or training is offered.
The Maryland Charter Schools Program invites Maryland’s public charter schools to design and implement a Collaborative Technical Assistance Project (CTAP). There are several ways that Charter Schools may share innovative and best practices, and collaborate with other schools. These include, but are not limited to:
● Partnerships and consultancies with other schools that lead to adoption of successful practices
● Sharing resources or programs developed at the charter school,
● Hosting other educators at the charter school,
● Hosting professional development activities at the school
RFP Due: January 10, 2025 or a project start date of February 1, 2025 and August 30, 2025 for a project start date of October 1, 2025
Estimated funding Amounts: $10,000 to $30,000.
Purpose
Share resources and information resulting from programs developed at public charter schools
Forge partnerships with other public charter and non charter public schools implementing key successful programs, projects and/or practices
Criteria
Must be a Maryland Public Charter School
For stipends, preference for schools offering topics identified as highest priority. To determine priority focus areas, click here.
Some form of demonstrated expertise in the topic
Clear learning objectives and a plan for how to effectively deliver content and engage participants
Details
Workshops/trainings should…
Be interactive, engaging, and consider best practice approaches to adult learning
Allow time for participants to engage and interact with one another
Be prepared with whatever technology or materials will be used and let participants know how best to prepare in advance
Not include “infomercials” or a particular vendor, consultant or product
Among other norms, promise confidentiality for participants
MAPCS staff and consultants are available as resources for promoting the opportunity at your school, and/or for advising on content and approach.
Deadlines
Workshop/Training Time Frame: Between October 1, 2024 - September 30, 2027
Proposal submission deadline: Rolling basis
Notification of approval: Ongoing - until depletion of funds
Reporting due up to one month after training is offered. A select number of schools will be chosen of those who apply. See Reporting Form for format.
Apply Now
Click here to apply online for stipends. The RFP proposal process is separate, see RFP for more information.
Questions
2022 School Sharing Stipend Recipients
City Neighbors Foundation
Saturday, January 28 2023 from 9AM to 3 PM
The Progressive Education Summit is an annual event that brings together hundreds of educators from around the region and the country who are dedicated to the ideals of authentic, child-centered, democratic learning for all children. We strive to create a day that reinvigorates our collective efforts to provide an excellent education for every student, and to learn from great educational thinkers and reformers. City Neighbors Foundation is committed to providing this event free of charge to participants, thanks to the support of our generous funders and sponsors. The in-person day includes:
Keynote Speaker Shelley Moore
Deep-Dive Sessions with Master Practitioners
Practitioner-to-Practitioner Workshops
Opportunities to connect and network with aligned educators
Complimentary breakfast, lunch, and a wine and cheese reception immediately following the event
$500 Stipend Recipient
Where: Maryland Virtual Charter Schools Conference
When: May 2021 (Charter School led workshop presentations at the virtual conference)
Who: All conference attendees, including educators, school leaders, operations staff and board members.
Workshops:
Coppin Academy
Workshop: Why HBCUs Should Adopt the Charter School-Lab School Innovation Model
This panel described cutting edge skills gained by bringing together for the very first time the 3 heads from the HBCU Charter Schools: Coppin, Howard & Del State. They will share their firsthand knowledge and experiences leading a charter school affiliated with and on the campus of an HBCU. HBCU K-12 early childhood education students and alumni will generate a high level of interest in this panel session. This strong base of support will build an audience with enthusiasm for this panel session. The attendees who select this panel will leave with a clear understanding of how to establish an HBCU/Charter School partnership.
EXCEL Academy Public Charter School
Using Improvement Science to Promote Equity in Charter Schools
What is Improvement Science (IS) and how can it promote equity? This presentation supportedt participants by demonstrating how charter schools can adopt the principles of Improvement Science - an inquiry-based approach to school improvement that focuses on small shifts in instructional practice in rapid cycles of learning. This approach to school improvement can be leveraged as a method to increase teacher pedagogy and promote academic achievement for students of all identities.
Creative City Public Charter School
The Collective Power of Staff and Parents
When staff and parents are collectively aligned behind a school's mission and vision, it will pay huge dividends. A stakeholder panel of staff and parents from Creative City Public Charter School will give a glimpse of their experience participating in shared governance at the school, share about how the school gained (and kept) their strong buy-in, and discussed their powerful experience defending Creative City's renewal this winter.
Patterson Park Public Charter School
Financing Techniques for Expanding Charter Schools
This session discussed financing techniques utilized by charter schools with particular focus on tax-exempt bond financing. The advantages, disadvantages and costs of each will be discussed and an outline for relating your school’s financing needs, objectives and constraints to each alternative will be provided. Attendees will hear from representatives of Patterson Park PCS, a Baltimore-based charter school that has undergone multiple financings since its founding in 2005. Representatives from a local bank and financial advisor, both active in the charter school industry, also shared their thoughts.
Green Street Academy
Embracing Equity - How does "Identity" impact equity within schools?
Dr. Crystal Harden-Lindsey is currently the CEO of Green Street Academy. The Baltimore native is a graduate of Morgan State University, where she earned a degree in Social Work and Mental Health. She furthered her education at Johns Hopkins University majoring in Education. She later earned her doctorate degree in Educational Leadership. Through her journey as an educational leader, Lindsey felt the city that she has dedicated her life’s work was in need of healing. Therefore, she went on to pursue her certification as a yoga teacher. She specializes in trauma informed yoga practice and restorative vinyasa. Dr. Harden-Lindsey travels to urban cities across our nation conducting" Anti-Racist" Workshops for school leaders.
New Song Academy #322
Applying for and Managing Multiple Grants with Limited Staff
Being a small nonprofit automatically means everyone is working, all of the time, performing multiple functions. I may be the executive director in title, but that doesn't mean my job is limited to being the organization’s leader. You may be development director, but along with proposal writing, your job includes events, soliciting funds from major donors, etc. We have come up with a process that allows us to continually perform our duties and harness the skillset of others to keep our grant writing pipeline full. This workshop focused on ways to help staff generate funding sources for a nonprofit that has a limited staff.
College Park Academy
Mitigating Instructional Deficits and Emotional Stress
The presentation illustrated how a Learning Loss Recovery Program, involving Mentorship and Tutoring, helps to furnish identified struggling learners with support in Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and academic success. Participants were presented with the program’s function and administration, structure of sessions, data utilization for student identification, and the importance of providing mentorship to strengthen students’ social emotional learning.
Legends Charter School
Yes And! The pursuit of academic excellence in social emotional competency
The Covid-19 pandemic has made it even more necessary to provide students with access to Mental Health and SEL. The Legends school design and academic program incorporates SEL for students and adults in our building and we are intentional about extending that same information and access to support our parents and larger community. Legends Public Charter School approaches SEL and Mental Health with a culturally responsive lens, incorporating a focus on these aspects over the continuum of our interactions with our students, faculty, staff and school community at large.
2021 School Sharing Stipend Recipients
$500 Stipend Recipient
What: DIYPD is an opportunity to support a small group of other educators interested in the child-centered, democratic ideals of progressive education. Share a practice, or learn from the strategies or practices of colleagues. Choose from four 30-minute strategy workshops. Those who are registered can self identify that they are Interested in leading one of the 30-minute sessions on a good progressive teaching strategy, approach, or idea.
Where: https://cityneighborsfoundation.org/learn-with-us/professional-development/
When: Workshops are offered on an ongoing basis
Who: Educators interested in the child-centered, democratic ideals of progressive education.
11th Annual Progressive Ed Summit
$1000 Stipend Recipient
What:
Thursday evening, January 20th from 5-8 pm will be our Community Connection, Workshop Night. The evening will be an opportunity to learn from other practitioners, build community with other progressive educators, network and more.
Saturday morning, January 22nd from 9 to noon will be our Keynote Speaker and our Deep Dive Sessions. We are very excited to have Dr. Shawn Ginwright, one of the nation’s leading innovators, provocateurs, and thought leaders on African American youth, youth activism, and youth development. Dr. Ginwright is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Flourish Agenda, Inc., a national nonprofit consulting firm, whose mission is to design strategies that unlock the power of healing and engage youth of color and adult allies in transforming their schools and communities. He is the author of “The Four Pivots: Reimagining Justice, Reimagining Ourselves,” “Hope and Healing in Urban Education: How Activists and Teachers are Reclaiming Matters of the Heart”, and “Black Youth Rising, Activism and Radical Healing in Urban America.”
Where: Virtual
Who: Teachers - including Educators and the Learning Community in Public Schools, Independent Schools, Parochial Schools, Universities, Early Learning Centers and throughout.
Baltimore Curriculum Project
The Secret of Managing Behavior
The secrets behind creating appropriate community standards for students and adults? There are no secrets: classroom and behavior management are an open book but it takes much more than reading the contents. Those who create effective and appropriate classrooms and school climate work hard to develop a battery of skills, talents and knowledge that allows them to support both students and adults. This is all about creating a school culture devoted to learning, social nd emotional growth and overall school success! Presented by Baltimore Curriculum Project
2020 School Sharing Stipend Recipients
Baltimore Curriculum Project
Webinar– Restorative Practices and Why The Process Works
$500 Stipend Recipient
What: Restorative Practices has received a lot of attention over the past two or three years. However, many schools still have little idea of what’s involved, what the processes are and how schools can develop Restorative Practices processes and objectives. Jon McGill is the Academic Director for Baltimore Curriculum Project and has many years of supporting and training for Restorative Practices. Join him for a webinar that will outline the content of Restorative Practices, guidelines for developing your own program and how RP has worked in BCP schools.
Where: On-Demand
When: Watch now
Who: Teachers at charter schools, district schools and private schools and other school based staff who want to learn more about Restorative Practices, sharpen their skills, or ask questions about challenges or what successful implementation looks like.
Webinar– Building School Culture
What: Creating the right school climate and culture is the most demanding and difficult part of managing schools. This webinar looks at the components of positive culture and climate: it also examines how to change what is not working. The advice will be practical, process-driven and tangible.
Where: On-Webinar
When: Watch now
Who: Teachers, administrators, school based staff
Progressive Ed Summit
$1000 Stipend Recipient
What: The Progressive Education Summit brings together hundreds of educators from around the region and country to share best practices, work with great educational thinkers and practitioners, connect with other educators, and work to bring alive the child -centered, democratic ideals of progressive education.
Where: City Neighbors High School, 5609 Sefton Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21214
Who: Teachers - including Educators and the Learning Community in Public Schools, Independent Schools, Parochial Schools, Universities, Early Learning Centers and throughout.
$500 Stipend Recipient
What: DIYPD is an opportunity to support a small group of other educators interested in the child-centered, democratic ideals of progressive education. Share a practice, or learn from the strategies or practices of colleagues. Choose from four 30-minute strategy workshops. Those who are registered can self identify that they are Interested in leading one of the 30-minute sessions on a good progressive teaching strategy, approach, or idea.
Where: https://cityneighborsfoundation.org/learn-with-us/professional-development/
When: June 2020 (workshops are offered on an ongoing basis)
Who: Educators interested in the child-centered, democratic ideals of progressive education.
Professional Development Opportunities
Sponsored by Maryland public charter school operators. Open to all school professionals.
Baltimore Teacher Network
Offers a Teacher’s Resource Center including drop-in office hours and workshops.
City Neighbors Foundation
An Annual Progressive Education Summit as well as custom workshops to meet your specific needs.
The Children’s Guild
Monthly Workshops and an annual conference through the Transformation Education Institute.
Annual National Charter Schools Conference
Annually in June
The National Charter Schools Conference is the premier conference for current and aspiring charter school leaders. This conference is about being part of a movement, learning from the best in the field, and learning from each other. Meeting peers that struggle with the same issues you do—or have solutions to offer you—is an incredible learning experience.
Present Your Own Topics
Workshops by and for public charter school professionals. Present your own topics to other charter school professionals. Open to all teachers.
Additional Resources
Identifying Promising Practices in Charter Schools: A Framework for an Evidence-Based Approach
The framework was created to "break the mold" of identifying practices that work, by inviting all schools (not just the high performing ones) to reflect on what is working in their schools, provide instruction on how to gather evidence of it working and how to disseminate that knowledge with other practitioners so they can more easily implement the practice.
Framework for identifying Promising Practices in Charter Schools
This brief, developed by the Mid-Atlantic Comprehensive Center at WestEd, presents charter schools with an evidence-based framework for identifying innovations and promising practices that can be reported on and shared with the broader education community, including other charter schools and traditional schools and districts.