#62 Oregon Charter Academy | Allison Galvin

In this episode of “The Charter School Connection” Dallan speaks with Allison Galvin, Executive Director at Oregon Charter Academy. Allison shares about the dynamic responsive approach to learning found at the award winning school. Allison started as a math teacher and never expected to end up in a charter school but here she is. She shares how the culture at Oregon Connections Academy drew her in and that virtual schools are the best kept secret. “Once you go virtual, you don’t go back.” Being virtual, it is important that the team still has a bond so the leadership team has created an always present culture. Making sure to learn and check in on more than just work related things, and meeting in person every so often. Oregon Charter Academy started in 2005 as Oregon Connections Academy, part of a corporate management company group of schools. This group of schools was some of the first in Oregon. After a while they learned that they needed to break off on their own to get to where they needed to be and become Oregon Charter Academy on 1 July 2020, right in the heart of covid. Tune into the episode to learn how they overcame many challenges that arose during that time. Oregon Charter Academy has a dynamic responsive approach to learning and the teachers adjust weekly to meet the needs of the students. Listen to the episode to hear all the things that make Oregon Charter Academy unique and provide students with the community and school feel all while being a virtual school. Time Stamps: 00:37 Allison’s journey to charter schools 3:55 How do you build strong relationships being fully virtual? 6:15 What makes Oregon Charter Academy Unique? 9:28 How do you convince parents to choose Oregon Charter Academy? 13:20 How many enroll from traditional looking for alternative schools vs virtual being their primary option? 14:24 Challenges and how they overcame them? 18:18 Final thoughts Show Notes: Oregon Charter Academy: https://www.oregoncharter.org/