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At Work At School

An Afton Partners Blog

All Posts

IL Gov. Pritzker Touts Early Childhood Focus in 2024 State of the State Address

Earlier today, Illinois Governor Pritzker delivered his State of the State Address, highlighting Smart Start Illinois, which is a historic investment in the state’s early care and education (ECE) system. Smart Start launched last year and is already improving access to quality child care and other critical services for young children and their families, while… Continued

2023 Year in Review and Looking Ahead

Afton had an impactful year in 2023! We are so grateful for the relationships we sustained and new ones formed. Every initiative we have supported has offered an opportunity to strengthen social systems with a focus on justice. We’ve expanded our skill sets to offer a comprehensive set of solutions to drive change in the… Continued

If you’re going to close schools, do it this way

By Katie Morrison-Reed, Partner Over the past couple of years, whisperings of a potential wave of school consolidations turned into a regular chatter, and that chatter has since turned into announcements. Across the country, many school districts have seen continuous declining enrollment trends, with a steep loss during COVID that doesn’t show signs of fully… Continued

The Impact of ‘the Six Es’ on District Budgets

School districts across the country have experienced massive systemic changes over the past few years. However, much of this disruption has been masked by one-time pandemic relief funds in the national conversation – and in budgets. As those funds end, states and districts will need to tackle the resulting challenges head on. At Afton, we’ve… Continued

FOX Fellowship’s Support for Strong Charter School Management

Introduction One of our greatest pleasures at Afton is the occasional opportunity to step back and have reflective conversations about the meaning and impact of our work with partners. Afton’s co-founder and Managing Partner, Carrie Stewart, has been a coach for all three cohorts of the FOX Fellowship, a program for Chief Operating and Financial Officers of public… Continued

Partner Interview: Fair Chance Hiring

From January through September 2023, Afton collaborated with the Corporate Coalition of Chicago, Cara Plus, and the Chicagoland Workforce Funder Alliance to facilitate the inaugural Fair Chance Hiring (FCH) Initiative, a business-led effort to reduce barriers to hiring individuals with criminal justice involvement. We recently sat down with the Initiative’s Program Director, Steph Dolan, and co-facilitator, Liana Bran,… Continued

Applying Charter Authorizing Principles in the Early Childhood Field

By Abby McCartney and Carrie Stewart Introduction: Early Care and Education at a Crossroads Despite its importance for children’s development, the Early Care and Education (ECE) field has historically often been excluded from broader conversations about education quality and investment. This is changing: an increasing number of state and federal leaders are prioritizing public funding… Continued

Early Childhood Updates from Afton

There has been so much news on early childhood lately that we couldn’t resist adding our own information dump covering Afton’s recent efforts. Some exciting Afton-related early care and education (ECE) updates include: Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker announced a proposal for a new unified early childhood state agency, which represents an important next step for children and families, resulting… Continued

Financial Stewardship in a Time of Elevated Pressures

At Afton, we have been reflecting on the concept of financial stewardship, meaning how charter schools handle resources like money, assets, and talent to enable great outcomes. We believe effective financial stewardship consists of three major pillars:  Enacting your mission through resource allocation,  Protecting your money with controls and governance, and   Making good resource decisions that… Continued

Afton Community Engagement Practices

At Afton, we think of community engagement as the process of collaborating with impacted groups on projects and ensuring they can influence the decisions that will ultimately affect them. It’s part of living out our values to center the human experience, collaborate inclusively, and prioritize justice. In fact, it’s the core of everything we do.  We believe answers… Continued