Gestalt Community Schools General Information Contact Information Nonprofit Gestalt Community Schools Address 2650 Thousand Oaks Blvd. Ste 2370 MEMPHIS, TN 38118 Phone 901 213-5161 Facebook facebook.com/gestaltcs Twitter @GestaltCS At A Glance Year of Incorporation 2009 Former Names Power Center Academy Community Foundation staff conducted a site visit? No 1
Statements & Search Criteria Mission Gestalt Community Schools is a charter management organization that serves K-12 scholars in Memphis, TN. Gestalt leverages community assets to empower citizens who will be college-ready, career-ready, and community-ready. Background The Gestalt vision is building better communities through education. To this end, Gestalt targets low-income communities that have failing schools. Gestalt then catalyzes grassroots leadership to revitalize the neighborhood, educates the youth through high-performing schools, and partners with providers to tackle out-ofschool challenges that hinder students from succeeding. Our History With schools failing, families filing for bankruptcy and foreclosure, and businesses leaving the struggling Hickory Hill community in Memphis, TN, Derwin Sisnett and Yetta Lewis saw a need for both education and community development. They worked to develop a community-based school that would address both. In 2008, Power Center Academy opened its doors to 125 sixth-grade students. Power Center Academy and the community around it began to see early successes through increased achievement scores and the elimination of community blight. In 2011, Derwin and Yetta founded Gestalt Community Schools to scale the work begun in 2008. The Gestalt Community Schools network plans to grow from four schools to ten by 2020, from serving 1,600 scholars to more than 5,000. 2
Impact Gestalt Community Schools is a system of five (and growing!) K-12 charter schools in targeted Memphis communities. In psychology, gestalt theory says the unified whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Gestalt Community Schools was founded on the belief that education has no boundaries, and the most meaningful method to support student learning is an integration of education and community a true gestalt. Gestalt Community Schools does not yet have a decade of results; it is still relatively new. However, it does have excellent performance data for the students it has had since opening in 2008. It also continues to show an upward trend in high student performance with students who have been in the school over time. Gestalt scholars have consistently outscored their peers at the community, district and state levels, most notably closing the gap between economically disadvantaged and not disadvantaged. Power Center Academy High School has been recognized as a Tennessee Reward School for academic progress. As a Reward School, PCA High is among the top 5% schools in TN. Power Center Academy Middle School was the recipient of the SCORE Prize from the Tennessee State Collaborative on Reforming Education in 2011, and one of three finalists for the prize in 2012. In this competition, Power Center Academy was recognized as Tennessee s highest performing public middle school. PCAMS is also a Reward School for progress. Humes Preparatory Academy, our first turnaround school, achieved Level 5 growth in 2014, the highest level awarded by the State of Tennessee. The school s collective growth over the past 3 years has also lifted it out of the bottom 5% statewide and moved it off the priority list. Klondike Preparatory Academy, our newest turnaround school, doubled in size this year, now serving 300 scholars in North Memphis. Power Center Academy Elementary School just opened for the 2015-16 school year, serving scholars in grades K-1. Needs While the majority of our funding comes from state and federal sources, we also rely on philanthropic partners and investors to meet our budget and to build a reserve fund. Areas Of Service Areas Served Areas TN - Shelby County Hickory Hill and North Memphis/Crosstown Service Categories Charter Schools Primary & Elementary Schools Community & Neighbourhood Development 3
Programs Programs Power Center Academy Middle School Description Public charter school serving grades 6-8 in the Hickory Hill area. PCA Middle School offers a rigorous college-preparatory curriculum with a special focus on entrepreneurship and financial literacy. PCAMS is part of the Shelby County Schools District. Budget $3,266,360.00 Strategy Long term Success College-readiness, career-readiness, and community-readiness. Short Term Success State assessment data Power Center Academy High School Description Public charter school serving grades 9-12 in the Hickory Hill area. PCA High offers a rigorous college-preparatory curriculum with a special focus on entrepreneurship and financial literacy. PCAHS is part of the Shelby County Schools District. Budget $6,439,740.00 Strategy Long term Success College-readiness, career-readiness, and community-readiness. Short Term Success State assessment scores Power Center Academy Elementary School Description Public charter school serving grades K-1 in the Hickory Hill area. PCA Elementary offers a rigorous college-preparatory curriculum with a special focus on entrepreneurship and financial literacy. PCAES is part of the Shelby County Schools District. Budget $2,413,478.00 Strategy Long term Success College-readiness, career-readiness, and community-readiness. Short Term Success State assessment data. 4
Klondike Preparatory Academy Elementary School Description Public charter school serving grades K-5 in the North Memphis/Crosstown area. Klondike Preparatory Academy offers a rigorous college-preparatory curriculum anchored in the following core components: Science, Technology, Arts, Math, and Community Service. Klondike Preparatory Academy scholars are achieving more and serving more for our community and beyond! KPA is part of the Achievement School District. Budget $3,035,974.00 Strategy Long term Success Short Term Success College-readiness, career-readiness, and community-readiness. State assessment data Humes Preparatory Academy Middle School Description Public charter school serving grades 6-8 in the North Memphis/Crosstown area. Humes Preparatory Academy offers a rigorous college-preparatory curriculum anchored in the following core components: Science, Technology, Arts, Math, and Community Service. HPA is part of the Achievement School District. Budget $4,243,914.00 Strategy Long term Success Short Term Success College-readiness, career-readiness, and community-readiness. State assessment data. 5
Board & Governance Board Chair Board Chair Mrs. Courtney Leon Company Affiliation Plough Foundation Term June 2015 to July 2016 Email leon@plough.org Board Co-Chair Term Please select... 0 to Please select... 0 Board Members Name Affiliation Status Ashanta Evans Blackwell Vice President, Deputy General Counsel, Teach for America Inc. Karen Kruse President, FTB Advisors Courtney Leon Mark Levine Program Officer, Plough Foundation President, Southern Growth Studio Yetta Lewis CAO, Gestalt Community Schools Mario Parson Patricia Ray Owner, Passport Health and Senior Real Estate Agent, Federal Express Head of Upper School, St. Mary s Episcopal School Derwin Sisnett CEO, Gestalt Community Schools Kristin Walker Tammie Williams Performance Management Project Manager, Shelby County Schools Office of Strategy & Innovation Deputy Regional Administrator, TN Dept. of Children s Services Board Demographics - Ethnicity African American/Black 6 Asian American/Pacific Islander 0 Caucasian 4 Hispanic/Latino 0 Native American/American Indian 0 Other 0 0 Board Demographics - Gender Male 3 Female 7 6
Unspecified 0 Governance Board Term Lengths 2 Board Term Limits 3 Board Meeting Attendance % 75 Written Board Selection Criteria? Written Conflict of Interest Policy? Under Development Percentage Making Monetary Contributions 100 Number of Full Board Meetings Annually 6 Standing Committees Academic Affairs Board Governance Finance Human Resources / Personnel 7
Management Executive Director/CEO Executive Director Derwin Sisnett Term Start Jan 2007 Email dsisnett@gestaltcs.org Experience Prior to co-founding Gestalt Community Schools, Derwin Sisnett served as the Executive Director of the Power Center CDC, a Community Development Corporation in the Hickory Hill community of Memphis. In 2007, the Power Center CDC sponsored and developed Power Center Academy (PCA), a charter middle school that focuses on entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and high technology. As a result of PCA s early success and its efforts to engage the surrounding community, Derwin co-founded Gestalt Community Schools (GCS), a charter management organization that develops and manages the growth of high-performing, community-based charter schools in Tennessee. In addition to his work at GCS, Derwin is active at the University of Memphis where he has served as an adjunct professor in the department of Educational Psychology and Research. Derwin is also a member of several community-based organizations including the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change Advisory Board, the Martin Institute of Teaching Excellence Board of Trustees, the Dixon Gallery & Gardens Education Committee, St. George s Independent School Advisory Board, and Leadership Academy Alumni. Derwin has been invited to present at several national and local conferences including the New American City Urban Nexus: The New Face of Civic Engagement, the Federal Reserve of St. Louis Conference on Community Development, the Nashville Chamber of Commerce & Lipscomb University s Speaker Series on Charter Schools, and the Yale School of Management Education Leadership Conference. Derwin has a BA in Psychology from Emory University and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Hollins University. Staff Full Time Staff 215 Part Time Staff 7 Volunteers 75 Contractors 0 Retention Rate 0 Plans Organization has a Fundraising Plan? Organization has a Strategic Plan? Under Development Years Strategic Plan Considers 10 Date Strategic Plan Adopted Mar 2012 Management Succession Plan? Under Development Organization Policy and Procedures Nondiscrimination Policy Whistleblower Policy Document Destruction Policy No 8
Directors and Officers Insurance Policy 9
Financials Fiscal Year July Fiscal Year 2016 Projected Revenue $23,302,787.00 Projected Expenses $22,884,277.00 Endowment Value 0 Spending Policy N/A Percentage (if selected) 0% s Detailed Financials Revenue and Expenses Total Revenue $15,679,425 $10,847,618 $5,581,282 Total Expenses $15,399,847 $10,574,042 $5,249,667 Revenue Sources Foundation and Corporation $4,052,756 $3,170,079 $1,603,137 Contributions Government Contributions $2,104,780 $1,972,950 $632,375 Federal -- -- -- State -- -- -- Local -- -- -- Unspecified $2,104,780 $1,972,950 $632,375 Individual Contributions -- -- -- Indirect Public Support $0 $0 $0 Earned Revenue $9,521,790 $5,704,589 $3,308,003 Investment Income, Net of Losses $99 $0 $67 Membership Dues $0 $0 $0 Special Events $0 $0 $0 Revenue In-Kind $0 $0 $0 Other $0 $0 $37,700 10
Expense Allocation Program Expense $9,501,579 $6,491,231 $2,899,856 Administration Expense $5,898,268 $4,082,811 $2,349,811 Fundraising Expense $0 $0 $0 Payments to Affiliates -- -- -- Total Revenue/Total Expenses 1.02 1.03 1.06 Program Expense/Total Expenses 62% 61% 55% Fundraising Expense/Contributed Revenue 0% 0% 0% Assets and Liabilities Total Assets $3,900,407 $3,168,903 $2,458,396 Current Assets $2,341,364 $1,724,096 $1,943,305 Long-Term Liabilities $2,008,794 $1,737,468 $1,414,655 Current Liabilities $930,206 $249,606 $135,488 Total Net Assets $961,407 $1,181,829 $908,253 Short Term Solvency Current Ratio: Current Assets/Current Liabilities 2.52 6.91 14.34 Long Term Solvency Long-Term Liabilities/Total Assets 52% 55% 58% Top Funding Sources Top Funding Source & Dollar Amount -- -- -- Second Highest Funding Source & Dollar -- -- -- Amount Third Highest Funding Source & Dollar Amount -- -- -- Capital Campaign Currently in a Capital Campaign? Anticipated In 3 Years Goal $0 Capital Campaign Anticipated in Next 5 Years? State Charitable Solicitaions Permit Permit? Exempt Please select... 0 Created 12.05.2017. Copyright 2017 11