CST
CHARTER SCHOOLS TODAY
Spring 2009
www.charterschoolstoday.com
EDUCATION TEAM THE ALEXANDER KUA OPARTNERS KA LA PUBLIC COMPANY, INC CHARTER SCHOOL Helping Charter Schools Across Arizona Reusing andWith Revitilizing Education Aloha
THE MAG A ZINE FOR CH ARTER SCHOOL EX ECU TIVES
Education Team Partners
2|
2|
US Executive Journal Summer Edition 2008 Charter Schools Today Spring Edition 2009
Helping Charter Schools Across Arizona Produced by Todd Rodgers & Written by Jim Barlow In 2000, Education Team Partners (ETP) began its services and was established as a business in 2002 in Tempe, Arizona, “totally by accident,” as founder and president Alex Hristov likes to put it. This “accident” has since become a busy and booming business with the objective of assisting and supporting charter schools throughout the state. Alexander Hristov and Elka Hristova started the business with a unique concept for organizing information systems and knowledge management. Equipped with those tools, their company Education Team Partners has risen to the top of its field, delivering quality, growth, and academic achievement results to charter schools in Arizona.
Unexpected Success “If you had asked me 11 years ago to talk about charter schools, I would have said, ‘what kind of animal is that,’” jokes Alex. “Then one day a friend at Arizona State University (ASU)
approached me for assistance with a charter school that was in financial trouble,” and this was the beginning for ETP. His reputation gained steam and more charter schools began turning to Alex when they found themselves in financial strife. “After about four or five calls, we decided to treat it as a business,” says Alex. Today, he and his wife, Elka Hristova, lead Education Team Partners to support the vision of educators and professionals from charter schools in three main areas: facilities, grants, and technical assistance. ETP also helps with strategic planning and assists those schools that are in start-up, developmental, and growth mode. “When charter schools want to expand, new stricter charter regulations may require as much as 300-page new charter application, and charter schools seek advice from us,” comments Alex. Before Education Team Partners was
even on their radar, the couple worked at ASU, Elka gaining extensive experience in sponsored project management and competitive grants. She also holds certifications as a Senior Grants Consultant, Reviewer, and Administrator from Research Associates and CUFS Certification from ASU. Alex completed a Ph.D. study in Public Affairs at ASU and also worked as a Project Manager / Executive Trainer and subsequently a graduate courses instructor for the university. The two came to the United States from Bulgaria where they completed their undergraduate studies. Working as a consulting company and a think tank, ETP relies solely on word of mouth and referral demand to keep the wheels of the business turning and its doors open. “Right now ETP is experiencing huge demand for its services and is fully booked until August,” explains Alex.
US ExecutiveCJournal Summer Edition 2008 |3 harter Schools Today Spring Edition 2009
|3
Grant Services
ment, and one of the most critical items: time management.
ETP specializes in competitive grants and national competitions. Enjoying a high success ratio, ETP does not take a lot of clients but develops strong relationships with those who do turn to ETP for assistance. The organization completes needs assessment, detailed studies, and collects detailed data sets so it is well-informed of the school’s current status and where it wishes to be. If the situation arises where the charter school is not in the position to be eligible or with sufficient capacity to apply for a specific grant, ETP will work with the school, sometimes for several years, to help the school get there.
“Bottom line is: the ETP business model for charter school facility development does not try to mold the charter school needs into a specific pre-arranged shape…ETP…can custom build a model that fits best the individual charter school needs and desires and provide a dream charter school facility.”
The Charter School Cornerstone: Facilities When it comes to facilities, ETP provides a wide spectrum of services which takes into account each school’s specific needs and determines what the most cost-effective approach for the school is. This often involves a creditenhancement component and a grant program and conventional financing products which, as a combined effort, may provide 100 percent facility financing. ETP has assisted with this challenge in many other ways including tax-exempt bonds, conventional commercial loans, specialty loans, credit enhancement grants, specialty grants, and private source financing. ETP’s services for facilities financing do not stop there. The organization has also helped develop funding models to secure school facility financing; helped schools find a location and property for the facility; worked with local jurisdictions to determine regulatory requirements; and assisted with executing the real estate transaction, among others. Most recently, ETP established collaboration with CORE Construction, Arizona’s largest and the nation’s seventh largest school builder, and Orcutt-Winslow, an experienced architectural firm, to form a manage-design-build group that caters to the unique challenges of charter schools. This team is equipped to cover all functions necessary to develop a charter school facility. Whether it is a new construction project or existing facility acquisition, ETP and its partners are equipped to tackle both. The team will be in constant communication from the “get go” regarding the specific aspects of each project, thus eliminating the many odds related to project costs and financing, major player selection and involvement, project coordination and manage-
4|
Charter Schools Today
Spring Edition 2009
Technical Assistance ETP’s technical assistance and strategic planning programs involve program design, implementation, and development and strategic planning for charter schools. This can include development of new charter applications, charter renewal applications, business start-up work plans and financial projections, development of academic and managerial abilities, management of growth and strategic planning, building leadership capacity, and school community development.
Focused on Quality Working with approximately 10 to 12 charter schools at any given time, ETP is staying dedicated to the importance of quality. “We want to stay focused on quality and not compromise quality for quantity. We are carful in expanding Education Team Partners to make sure that the quality of services does not go away,” explains Alex. Impressively, ETP has been consistently generating an average of 50 plus full-time employment positions every single year in its clients’ organizations, which are a direct result of the efforts of Education Team Partners and the leadership, expertise, and commitment of Alex and Elka. ETP also has another vision: to help educators translate their dreams into a charter school and assist them to make a major difference in public education. Offering top-quality services to local charter schools, the state of Arizona is lucky to have an organization within its borders that is able to do just that.
COMPANY AT A GLANCE Founded : 2002 President : Alex Hristov
www.edteam.com
Charter Schools Today
Spring Edition 2009
|5
CST
CHARTER SCHOOLS TODAY
Spring 2009
www.charterschoolstoday.com
Education Team Partners 1024 South Maple Avenue Tempe, AZ 85282 United States