Frequently Asked Questions

Please contact us if you have a question that is not listed below.

• How do schools benefit from the TeamCFA network affiliation?

  Schools that are established in our network gain access to a broad range of services, grants, staff advancement training, consulting, as well as personalized access to Core Knowledge. There are also opportunities for the collaboration of quality educators who share a vision for cultivating young citizens who are motivated and capable learners and leveraging their best practices to share across a thriving network.

• Who is TeamCFA?

  TeamCFA is a growing national network of charter schools dedicated to the mission of student achievement, academic excellence, measurable results, and bringing school choice to more students and their families.

• What is a charter school?

  Charter schools are elementary or secondary schools in the United States that receive public money but have been freed from some of the rules, regulations, and statutes that apply to other public schools in exchange for some type of accountability for producing certain results, which are set forth in each school's charter.

  While charter schools provide an alternative to other public schools, they are part of the public education system and are not allowed to charge tuition. Where space at a charter school is limited, admission is frequently allocated by lottery based admissions. Some charter schools provide a curriculum that specializes in a certain field — e.g. arts, mathematics, etc. Others attempt to provide a better and more efficient general education than nearby public schools.

  Some charter schools are founded by teachers, parents, or activists who feel restricted by traditional public schools. State-run charters (schools not affiliated with local school districts) are often established by non-profit groups, universities, and some government entities. Additionally, school districts sometimes permit corporations to open chains of for-profit charter schools. [as cited on Wikipedia]

• What does TeamCFA stand for?

  The acronym “team” stands for together each achieves more. In the spirit of teamwork, it is our belief that the success of each student takes the active participation, communication, and commitment of the teacher, student, and parent working in collaboration. To that end, each stakeholder formalizes this commitment by signing and upholding the Team Commitment contract. CFA of course, stands for Challenge Foundation Academy.

• Who is the Challenge Foundation?

  The Challenge Foundation is a private charitable trust founded in 1988. The foundation’s support of over 187 charters schools through $20M in grants brought about the development of a model school design that provides every student with a first-class education. The Challenge Foundation lends its name, funding, and operating support to the schools in its network.

• How does a school become a Challenge Foundation Academy?

  Through the expertise gained in supporting charter schools over the last 15+ years, CF has put together a school model based on best practices identified in the areas of academics, business, and governance. There are currently two ways to gain access to our network: start-up and conversion.

  1. Start-up: TeamCFA partners with passionate, committed educators, leaders, and community groups who are able to demonstrate support of the CFA model, and establish local need for underserved students TeamCFA offers start-up costs which may include the initial financing for facilities with the vision that a successful CFA will become self-sustaining in 5-7 years
  2. Conversion: existing charter schools who share our vision of achievement, excellence and measurable results and are interested in gaining access to our network of support in the areas of academics, business, and governance can inquire about converting to a CFA and finding a partner in education.

• How do students enroll in a TeamCFA school?

  TeamCFA follows the federal guidelines for open enrollment. In other words, if we receive more applications than there is capacity, all applicants are given equal chance of admission through a lottery process as outlined by the state. Additionally, TeamCFA does not discriminate based on disability, race, color, gender, national origin, religion, ancestry.