How Is Imagine Schools Different From Traditional Management Companies?

Imagine Schools, an organization that operates public charter schools, seeks to help parents fulfill their responsibility to educate their children by providing excellent public school options.  Many aspects of what we do are unique in the field of education, including our purpose, vision, approach to starting schools, and economic practices.

The following is a brief overview of what makes Imagine Schools distinct from traditional educational management companies.

Operating vs. Managing:  Imagine Schools operates the entire school, and is not merely a consultant or service provider alone. All principals, teachers, and staff are Imagine Schools people. The Imagine Schools culture is meant to permeate every aspect of the school’s life. Each of our schools attempts to live out the Shared Values of Imagine Schools, and are evaluated by our Six Measures of Excellence.  We are committed to empowering principals, teachers, and other school staff with meaningful decision-making at the school level. When people ask us, “Who is Imagine?” - our response is, “I am Imagine!”

Non-profit status:  Imagine Schools operates as a non-profit organization. We applied for non-profit status in August 2005, and we are expecting an official designation as a nonprofit organization from the IRS soon.  100% of Imagine Schools’ expenditures go towards educating students: salaries, facilities costs, school start-up, and regional and national leadership and support. Our home office consists of only 24 people, a very small national staff for an organization of 3,600 employees serving over 36,000 students. Our decentralized approach helps us operate much more cost-effectively than other comparable organizations.

Our school buildings:  Schoolhouse Finance LLC, part of the Imagine Schools family, provides long-term real estate financing for many of the school buildings that are home to Imagine’s public charter schools across the country. Schoolhouse Finance was formed to provide each Imagine school with access to cost-effective facilities acquisition, construction, and long-term financing. Imagine Schools only finances school facilities for schools we own and operate.

Our scope of work:  Imagine Schools seeks to start and operate public charter schools in communities where parents desire more quality educational options. Because we are a mission-driven organization with a vision encompassing the whole school, our scope of work does not include starting schools for other groups or providing only administrative or financial support for a school. We are committed to operating our schools over the long term.

Economic sustainability of schools:  Imagine Schools considers the economic sustainability of our schools to be of equal priority to academic success, positive character development, and our other Measures of Excellence.  In practical terms, this means that each school must spend less each year on school operations than it receives in revenue from the government and other sources. We invest money in our school buildings and provide support for school start-up costs, but we do not fund schools with charitable contributions.  We also expect every teacher and principal to understand their school’s finances and to take responsibility for making wise spending decisions. Sustained economic vitality and stability are just as important as academic achievement in ensuring each Imagine school’s continued success.