All reviews will include a pop-in visit. This visit may occur before or after the virtual review and discussion. All schools in the Board's portfolio should be prepared for a pop-in by Board staff at any time, regardless of whether they are scheduled for a review in a given year.
During a pop-in, Board staff will tour the campus, observe instruction in classrooms to confirm alignment with the program of instruction, have a brief discussion with administration (if administration is on campus and available), and review a small number of compliance documents (primarily related to student safety). These visits will be unscheduled, fairly short, and focused in nature.
The focus of a pop-in goes beyond compliance. Pop-ins are intended to familiarize Board staff with schools, build relationships with charter and school leaders, and to see the hard and good work schools do each and every day.
Ensure that the individuals that cover the school's front desk know what to do when Board staff arrives. If this job is handled by many people, or covered during lunches or breaks, spend a few minutes ensuring that everyone knows what the protocol will be.
Ensure the following documentation is at the desk and ready for Board staff at any time. This should include:
A map of the school building, labeled with grade levels and, preferably, teacher names. This will help us find classrooms to conduct observations and confirm individuals providing instruction to students.
Instructional schedules for all classes. These allow Board staff to plan which classes to visit at which times, specifically to view reading or math instruction, or instructional blocks key to the school's program of instruction.
A complete staff list, identifying instructional and non-instructional staff, and all paid individuals, including maintenance staff, aides, vendors, contractors, and subcontractors. This will be used to understand who is (and should be) on campus, and to check fingerprint information against desk review findings (if the review has already been conducted).
Occupancy Documentation for all buildings at the school (see the Pop-in Preparation Checklist for additional detail)
Ensure that the front desk staff has easy access to Experience and Education information for all instructional staff, copies of Fingerprint Cards or Background Checks for all individuals, and the Emergency Operations Plan (also known as an Emergency Response Plan) for the school site. These documents could be in a drive ready to be downloaded to a flash drive, or in paper form in binders housed in an office or at the desk. Either way, it should be accessible and able to be provided to Board staff as quickly as possible. As a reminder, these are items that should always be up to date and available for review to maintain compliance with statutory requirements. After the pop-in visit, a charter holder will have 48 hours to provide any missing documentation to Board staff.
Board staff has created a sample agenda and preparation checklist for the pop-in visit. This helpful guidance can be found on the Reviews tab of the Board's website under the "Pop-ins" heading.