It Starts with Operations.
We support schools to provide more equitable and consistent outcomes for their most marginalized students. Schools come to us to better retain and grow operations staff through holistic skill and wellness development, refine their operations practices through cross-school collaboration, and to reimagine operations-instructional partnership through equity-rooted design facilitation.
If we envision more equitable schools we must start with how we embody those values of equity interpersonally and within the policies and systems governing our schools.
Process Begets Product
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The Patterns
Since 1996, 50% of charter school closures in Washington, DC were caused by operational issues.
StartOps’ survey of operations leaders revealed that schools struggle to retain their operations team members. And when staff are retained, there is little equity-rooted, identity-affirming development for them.
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The Process
Equity is a verb, and equitable schools are the product of equitable processes. If operations hiccups lead to school closures, and those closures compound educational gaps, we must invest attention and intention to operational processes. Our work begins with inclusive, reliable operations strategies, which are then transformed into consistent excellence by effective and well-supported staff.
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The Potential
We believe that schools should be spaces of radical inclusion, spaces that foster feelings of belonging where community visions of equity and justice are realized. This requires both intentional mindset shifts around the role of operations in schools and the importance of interdependence between operations and instructional teams.
The Problem
In Washington, DC, 50% of all charter schools closed since 1996 shuttered because of operations
In a recent survey of operations leaders, participants shared that they consistently struggle to retain their operations team members. And when they do, they struggle to find equity-rooted, identity-affirming experiences for them.
DC Public Charter School Board, All Approved LEA 1996 to present, https://dcpcsb.egnyte.com/dl/Rfj8UyEEUh/?
Learn more about how we are tackling this.
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Connect
We are solving for isolation in operations roles by cultivating an online membership community and a program calendar of learning experiences across the year.
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Build Capacity
Through learning experiences and asynchronous access to tools, templates and content, StartOps builds the capacity of teams.
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Coaching
We provide individual and team coaching support to navigate the technical and adaptive complexities of school-based operations teams.
We do none of this alone.
We partner abundantly with operations team leaders and former operations leaders to co-create learning experiences that align with the job-specific nuances of managing school-based operations in public charter schools.