Eastbank Collaborative
of Charter Schools

Kathy Riedlinger, President
Michelle Douglas, Secretary
Sean Wilson, Treasurer
Rose Drill-Peterson, Director

2021 Lakeshore Drive, Suite 414
New Orleans, La 70122
(504) 267-7239 or (504) 352-0286
rpeterson@slc-gno.org

Member Schools:
• Audubon Charter
• Ben Franklin High School
• Einstein Elementary Charter
• Hynes Charter School
• International School of Louisiana
• Lake Forest Elementary Charter
• Lusher Charter
• Moton Elementary
• New Orleans Charter Science and Math High School
• Warren Easton Senior High

Managed by the School Leadership Center of Greater New Orleans

With funding from Baptist Community Ministries

Mission:
To ensure the survivability of the charter school reform movement in New Orleans so that parents and students can have access and choices to high quality schools.


About Us!

Eastbank Collaborative of Charter Schools aims to:
1.
Decrease costs by exploring economies of scale
2.
Share operational resources and information among schools including finance, legal, PR, teacher recruiting and staff development
3.
Offer operational grants to support efficient school operations
4.
Develop a common voice for charter school issues
Accomplishments to Date
1.
A formal alliance of ten eastbank schools has been established to develop the annual direction and goals of the group. The Louisiana Charter School Alliance is a 501c3 which does business for these ten schools as the Eastbank Collaborative of Charter Schools.
2.
Created a centralized mechanism for Collaborative schools to facilitate the finding and hiring of quality teachers.
 
a. This service is shared with all Orleans Parish charter schools through the SLC website, where charter schools’ teaching vacancies are matched with qualified professionals who post their resumes. More than 1,400 professionals have utilized this service in one three-month period of 2008.
 
b. The second Annual Charter School Teacher Fair was attended by 38 charter schools who interviewed over 150 teacher candidates in Spring, 2008.
3.
Research on best accounting software for charter schools.
 
a. Successfully changed the school board’s policy on the use of accounting software for charter schools.
 
b. Blackbaud accounting software was purchased and training is complete.
 
c. Blackbaud implemented in three charter schools by Fall, ’07
4.
Formalized an association with the Louisiana Association for Public Charter Schools, a state non-profit speaking on behalf of the common needs of Louisiana charter schools.
 
a. Offered a 2008 Legislative Agenda to deal with “growing pain” issues of management and operation for Louisiana charters.
 
b. Spoke as one voice in requesting explicit legal changes to the Teachers Retirement System’s demands on charter schools.
5.
Staff Development presented to all charter schools on “Reasoning Minds”, a free math and science program funded by Exxon Mobil.
6.
SLC Learning Initiatives program offered to all member school principals and their leadership team.
7.
Eastbank Charter members organized to secure 30 percent of federal Restart Funds, totaling $3 million.
8.
Worked with school board to ensure allocation of $700,000 in federal Hurricane Education Assistance Program (HEAP) to charters.
9.
Worked with Orleans Parish School Board to devise a fair and timely evaluative process for charter school boards and schools.
10.
Worked with Orleans Parish School Board to prepare a public education campaign on the 2008 millage renewal dedicated to public schools.
11.
Supported the opening of the SUNS (Serving the Unique Needs of Students) Center, to help every charter school provide equal opportunities to students with learning challenges.
Click here for our legislative flyer updated December 2009.