FOCUS Charter School Real Estate Council

Friends of Choice in Urban Schools (FOCUS) is now the DC Charter School Alliance!

Please visit www.dccharters.org to learn about our new organization and to see the latest news and information related to DC charter schools.

The FOCUS DC website is online to see historic information, but is not actively updated.

By Stine Svenningsen

 

It is our pleasure to officially announce the launch of the FOCUS Charter School Real Estate Council. 

 

Charter schools currently serve 44% of D.C. public school students; the sector has grown annually since the first charter opened in 1996. With this continued growth the demand for more and better facilities is ever more urgent. Indeed, a 2012 survey of charter school leaders found that more than 50% of existing charter schools would like to acquire or build a facility to accommodate student growth.

 

In an effort to address this demand, FOCUS established the Real Estate Council in 2013 to facilitate information sharing between the charter schools and facilities vendors, and to provide resources to the charter schools. For a list of Council members, click here. We began with creating an online Real Estate Vendor Directory, which is now live and can be viewed here. This directory contains information on companies that support charter school facilities in the District, including architects, banks, construction managers, developers, general contractors, lawyers, and more.

 

Interested parties can also subscribe to the FOCUS quarterly Charter Facilities E-Newsletter, supported by the FOCUS Real Estate Council. This publication provides updates on existing D.C. charter school facilities and features guest columns by Real Estate Council members on facilities-related topics. To sign up for the E-Newsletter click here.

 

And on May 16th, 2014 FOCUS will host its first Facilities Summit with current Real Estate Council Members presenting to participants on budgeting for and financing facilities projects, including affordability; design; property acquisition; construction budgeting; owner's items; and types, costs, sources, and timing of financing. There will be a strong focus on green building, including requirements verses goals, new construction, retrofitting, and cost/savings implications. This is a great opportunity for charter school leaders, operations and finance directors, board members, and others to obtain detailed information for facilities projects, including purchases, leases, and renovations. Register online by visiting FOCUS Facilities Summit.

 

We are hopeful that these new efforts will lead to stronger facility solutions for all of D.C.’s charter schools. Contact Alison at acollier@focusdc.org or (202) 387-0405 for more information.