Charter School Leadership Graduate Certificate
Become an involved, character-driven leader.
Today’s charter schools need influential leaders to foster innovative learning formats, promote equitable opportunities, and recognize students’ diverse needs. Charter schools need character-driven leaders ready to boldly face modern challenges. At Saint Mary’s, you’ll be prepared to become an ethical, strong leader. The charter school leadership program is designed for both current and aspiring directors, heads of schools, and professionals involved in management and leadership at charter schools. It’s an opportunity to gain skills to help you move into a leadership position. The program is rooted in Saint Mary’s mission to empower learners to ethical lives of service and leadership.
Today’s charter school leaders require knowledge and skills to create and manage learning and working environments that value:
• Character and integrity
• Diversity and inclusion
• Instructional leadership
• Ethical decision-making
• Responsible stewardship of resources
• Reflective practice aligned with the mission of charter schools
As a future leader, you’ll understand that a charter school’s mission and vision statements drive all aspects of the school, including its instructional program. You’ll learn effective teaching strategies to be a supportive supervisor of instruction. Our faculty have first-hand charter school experience, providing you with the fundamentals of standards-based curriculum, data-driven instruction, and culturally and responsive teaching. Gain a thorough grounding of critical organizational management skills:
• Budget allocation
• Compliance
• Financial management
• Funding
• Human resource management
• Interagency service agreements
• Legal/contractor staff requirements
• Legal frameworks
• Marketing and fundraising
• Planning and reporting policies
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Program Highlights
Learn to lead with character and carry out a charter school’s mission and vision. The charter school leadership program is taught by faculty with expertise in the contemporary reality of charter school education, teaching you how to run daily operations and establish relationships with students, faculty, and stakeholders.
Program Features
What Makes it Special
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Complete this program in as little as one year -
Cohort model
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Designed for busy adults
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Experienced faculty who have served as leaders of charter schools
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Pursue an M.A. in Education with credits from this program
What You'll Learn
What You'll Learn
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Skills, knowledge, and dispositions to serve as a charter school leader
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Professional, reflective, ethical, collaborative, and intentional leadership practices
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Charter school visions and missions that identify unique program features
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Financial, human/material resources, and operations of charter school leadership
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Leadership skills around fundamental aspects of charter school operations
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Assessment and accountability measures that evaluate school structures/systems
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Practical moral wisdom, necessary character traits, and ethical behavior
Course Catalog
Career Outlook
Minnesota was the birthplace of the charter movement. Since the first charter was issued over 28 years ago, Minnesota’s charter schools have prospered in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and across the state. There were 179 charter schools in Minnesota for the 2021-22 school year, enrolling over 65,000 students.1
Charter School Principal
$79,780 per year*1. Advocacy: Minnesota’s Charter School Story – MN Association of Charter Schools at
https://www.mncharterschools.org/advocacy/mn-charter-school-story.php (visited May 31, 2022).