Season 3 Episode 4 - Graduation Season

It’s Graduation time in California! The CharterNation Podcast celebrates with a new segment called Best in Class which highlights exceptional charter schools in the Golden State. Our first series of interviews focuses on 10 exceptional charter high schools that are sending a significant number of historically disadvantaged students to college or the workforce.

But first, we hear from Cady Ching, the new Executive Director of Summit Public Schools, another charter that is growing the next gen of college graduates.

Changemakers Interview Series: California is home to the largest population of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. As such, charter public schools educate students with ties to countries as different as China, India, Samoa, and Vietnam. Cady Ching, the new executive director of Summit Public Schools, understands their student experience . CCSA’s President and CEO Myrna Castrejón recently sat down with Cady to talk about her background and how it shapes her work as the new leader of a leading charter public school network.

Research Spotlight: The state’s charter sector has a lot to be proud of this year. CCSA’s annual report entitled Portrait of the Movement: How CA Charter Public Schools Are Preparing Students for College and Career finds charters are sending a significant number of historically disadvantaged students to UC and CSU campuses compared to the traditional public school average. We dive into data with Jonathan Slakey, CCSA's Managing Director of School Performance, Accountability, and Research at CCSA.

Best In Class Series feat. Lighthouse Community Public Schools: CCSA's 2024 Portrait of the Movement identified 10 charters that are truly the “Best in Class” when it comes to preparing students for college and career. We speak to leaders at one of those schools, Lighthouse Community Public Schools in Oakland, about their best practices.

Season 3 Episode 3: Film Club Edition

We shine a spotlight on two documentaries about two charter public schools that are working to educate some of the most vulnerable student populations in California.

First, Watts Learning Center (WLC) is the focus of A School Grows In Watts which offers an intimate and powerful portrayal of how WLC is changing the lives of Black and Latino children in Watts.

The other documentary, La Lucha: Getting Schooled in America, centers on Learn4Life which follows five students who are trying to graduate amid tremendous personal challenges.

Host Ana Tintocalis plays clips from both films and interviews:

• Eugene Fisher, Co-Founder and Board President, Watts Learning Center
• Skip Hansen, Co-Founder and President, Lifelong Learning

Season 3 Episode 2 - Women’s History Month Special:

March is Women’s History Month and in this episode, you hear from some amazing women in California’s charter school movement who are standing tall.

Changemakers Interview Series: The tables are turned on CCSA’s fearless leader Myrna Castrejón. Instead of hosting our Changemakers segment, she’s our special guest! Learn more about one of the most powerful charter school female leaders in the U.S. Cristina De Jesus of Green Dot Public Schools CA serves as guest host.

Reflections on Female Leadership in the Charter Sector: Tap into the great mind of Amy Held, Executive Director Larchmont Charter School, one of the highest-performing public schools in Los Angeles. Amy has been leading Larchmont’s expansion over the years and reflects on her leadership style, the benefits of having women in leadership, and barriers for female leaders. Amy sits down with CCSA Director of Local Advocacy in L.A. Kasey Kokenda for the interview.

Postcards from Charterland: This month’s audio postcard comes from a charter school student who is skateboarding her way to success. Thirteen-year-old Katelyn West attends California Pacific Charter Schools. Katelyn lives in Sebastopol and discovered her love for skateboarding a couple years ago and is now training to qualify for the 2028 Olympics.

CCSA's CharterNation Podcast is back with Season 3 in 2024!

In February, we bring you a special Black History Month episode featuring perspectives of dynamic Black charter school leaders in California.

Changemakers: CCSA President and CEO Myrna Castrejón interviews Maya Woods-Cadiz, Superintendent of AIMS K-12 College Prep Charter District in Oakland. She became leader of AIMS-K12 about a decade ago and is credited with turning around that charter school. Under her leadership, AIMS now has three campuses – a elementary, middle, and high school – all of which consistently earns top honors for advancing the academic performance of its Black students.

An Affirming School Culture for Black Students: CCSA Director of Local Advocacy Los Angeles David Ritcherson interviews Charla Austin-Harris, the Founder and Executive Director of Learning by Design. LBD is a charter public school that’s bringing a student-centered learning approach to families of color in South Los Angeles. She talks about the importance of cultivating a school environment in which Black students can thrive.

Postcards from Charterland: For Season 3, we’re rolling out a new segment called Postcards from Charterland, short audio stories set to music featuring the voices of charter school students, parents, teachers and leaders across the state.

Our first “postcard” comes from Tanya Lee-Taylor, Founder and CEO of Julia Lee Performing Arts Academy, a TK-8th grade charter that’s growing artistically-minded scholars in Riverside County. The theme of national Black History Month this year is African Americans and the Arts. Tanya says that theme hits close to home because the inspiration behind her school is her great aunt, Julia Lee, a Kansas City Blues legend.

Episode 10:

Changemakers: To cap CCSA's observance of Native American Heritage Month, we’re bringing back a special Changemakers interview from Season 1 in which CCSA’s President and CEO Myrna Castrejon sits down with Marcos Aguilar, Head of School at Anawakalmekak International University Preparatory of North America. Anawakalmekak is a charter public school with three campuses in East Los Angeles. It’s one of the most unique charter schools because it focuses on indigenous cultures, histories, and native ways of knowing. Anawakalmekak also partners with local tribes on social justice issues such as land rights.

Spreading the Joy of Tiny Houses: During the holidays, we often pause to reflect on what we’re grateful for, like having a place to call home. But owning a home is still out of reach for most individuals and families living in California. One charter public school helping alleviate the problem at a local level is The Learning Choice Academy (TLC), a public hybrid charter school in San Diego County. For the past four years, high school students enrolled in the school’s career tech program have been building and selling “tiny homes” as part of its “Tiny House Project.”

My View From Here (audio commentary): Learn4Life is one of the most prominent charter public school networks in California that specializes in personalized learning. Its mission is to curb the state’s high school dropout rate by offering some of the most vulnerable students another chance to earn their diploma through a flexible, independent study option. In this “My View From Here” audio commentary, we hear from Skip Hansen, Co-Founder and President of Lifelong Learning, a nonprofit which manages the Learn 4 Life charter public school network. He says personalized learning is critical in K-12 public education because its transforming the lives of countless students who have given up hope.

Episode 9:

Changemakers: CCSA's President & CEO Myrna Castrejón interviews Brian Bauer, CEO and Superintendent of Granada Hills Charter, a TK-12th grade charter public school that gained its independence 20 years ago and grew to be an academic and athletic powerhouse. Gain insight as he reflects on how his school broke away from district control to become a charter.

Charter School Facilities: Finding a permanent school facility is the dream of many charter school leaders in California. But the lack of affordable real estate, the lack of space in big cities, and certain school authorizers can make finding a site extremely difficult. Pacific Charter School Development is a real estate development firm that's helping solve that problem. Tune in to hear PCSD's CEO John Sun offer his expertise.

Building a "Zoo School": Former NFL player Robert Golden is tackling his biggest challenge yet -- building a new state-of-the-art facility for Golden Charter Academy, his TK-8th grade charter school that has unique partnership with the Fresno Chaffee Zoo.

Hispanic Heritage Month: We honor Hispanic Heritage Month by bringing you the story of Angelica Sandez, a Latina charter school student in Fresno who’s determined to be a NASA engineer.

The 2022-23 academic year has officially come to a close in California. We reflect on the past year by bringing back three of the most popular Changemaker interviews on the CharterNation Podcast featuring:

• Dr. Cristina de Jesus, president and CEO of Green Dot Public Schools CA.
• Antonio Villaraigosa, former Mayor of Los Angeles and charter school ally
• Nina Rees, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools

Join Myrna Castrejón, President and CEO of the California Charter Schools Association, as she interviews these three influential leaders who have helped or are helping grow high-quality charter public schools options in the Golden State.

Episode 7:

Changemakers: CCSA's President & CEO Myrna Castrejón interviews Ana Ponce, Executive Director of GPSN, a nonprofit intermediary organization working to improve the public school system in Los Angeles. She discusses the importance of measuring the effectiveness of programs in LAUSD, engaging students outside the school day, and how families and community members need to continue pushing for changes.

Research Spotlight: CCSA's new report, The Face of California's Charter Public School Teachers, offers the first comprehensive look at the charter educator workforce in California in recent history. We highlight the findings and hear from two veteran charter school teachers who offer insight as to why teachers are attracted to and remain working at charter public schools.

My View From Here (Audio Commentary): As they school year comes to an end, Dr. Steve Olmos, the Superintendent of Visions In Education, share his thoughts on why school leaders need to be honest with themselves about what's working for their students, and what needs to change.