Charter School Financing

Alliance for Progress Charter School (AFPCS) is a mission-driven, award-winning, K-8 charter school serving over 600 students annually in North Philadelphia. AFPCS was founded in 1998 by the Women's Christian Alliance, a social service agency that has served the North Philadelphia community for nearly 90 years. Founded and led by Black leaders, AFPCS attracts a diverse student body from across Philadelphia as a magnet school. 70% of its students reside in nearby zip codes that fall within the city's lowest income brackets, and all students qualify for free and reduced lunch.

Over 28 million children in the US lack a playground within walking distance, and those from lower-income neighborhoods have even less access to parks and play areas compared to their middle- or upper-income counterparts. To address this gap, NFF provided Alliance for Progress with a $612,000 loan for the acquisition of unimproved land adjacent to the school’s existing campus to construct a new playground. The space will be equipped with play structures provided by KABOOM!, a national nonprofit that engages volunteers and sponsors to help communities build playgrounds for children.

This loan was supported by NFF’s credit enhancement grant program facilitated by the United States Department of Education's Credit Enhancement for Charter School Facilities Program. This credit enhancement grant program allows NFF to offer low-cost capital that helps start-up and single-site schools acquire, construct, and renovate new or existing facilities. Education happens beyond the classroom – and the addition of outdoor space will foster student learning and development.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Puerto Rico (BGCPR) was created in 1967 to promote the social, educational, vocational, and character development of young people living in low-income communities throughout Puerto Rico. For over 50 years, the organization has worked with more than 90,000 youth and their families – and it has expanded to twelve clubs across the island. With programs built on the three pillars of education, social support, and economic development, BGCPR is dedicated to closing the education gap, assisting clients in times of crisis, and increasing economic mobility.

BGCPR’s commitment to investing in its community is reflected in the OASIS Hub, a project which will convert an abandoned public school in San Juan into a modern, energy-efficient 136,000-square-foot facility that will offer spacious classrooms, community meeting spaces, roof-mounted solar panels, water recycling systems, and a health clinic that will provide vital preventative health services to an estimated 4,000 patients annually. The site will provide BGCPR’s Vimenti School with 90,000 square feet of facility space to serve 650 students – a significant increase from the 275 students currently enrolled at its two current temporary sites. Additionally, the OASIS Hub will house BGCPR’s workforce training and business incubator programming and will be engineered to withstand catastrophic weather events common in Puerto Rico.

NFF’s $3.7 million participation in a $14.8 million loan led by Local Initiatives Support Corporation bridged an Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) grant to support the expansion of Vimenti School, the first public charter school in Puerto Rico and the primary tenant for the OASIS Hub project. $43 million in total project financing includes $25 million of New Markets Tax Credits from Civic Communities and Capital One Financial Corporation and $15.2 million CDBG Disasters Recovery Program loan.

The OASIS Hub, with Vimenti School as its anchor, will bring high-quality education and holistic resources to the Villa Prades neighborhood of San Juan, a community that has banded together despite the impacts of natural disasters, the pandemic, and decades of disinvestment.

Girls Athletic Leadership School Los Angeles (GALS LA) is a first-of-its-kind all-girls middle school preparing a generation of young women to become confident, capable leaders of their own lives. Integrating an innovative health and wellness curriculum that addresses the unique emotional and physical needs of adolescent girls, GALS LA uses daily movement and athletics to help girls build confidence, boost self-esteem, and find joy.

NFF leveraged our Department of Education credit enhancement grant program to support our $4.4 million facility construction loan to GALS LA. This charter school financing helped advance construction efforts for GALS LA's new permanent facility, a move which will allow them to serve up to 330 students – a remarkable 108% increase from their current campus capacity. The new campus includes 17 classrooms, a dance studio, conference room, multipurpose room, and administrative offices.

Elevate Collegiate Charter School (Elevate Collegiate) is a new BIPOC-led and -serving charter school in the Third Ward neighborhood of Houston. The Third Ward is home to some of the most critical institutions in Houston's Black community, including Texas Southern University, Riverside Hospital, and dozens of prominent churches. Using a culturally responsive curriculum that reflects the diverse experiences of its students, Elevate Collegiate supports students' diverse educational needs through frequent progress monitoring, small-group instruction informed by that monitoring, and additional time in literacy and math to close gaps.

NFF's loan and a $2 million subordinated loan from TCSD will finance Elevate Collegiate’s two-phase leasehold improvement. This renovation project will provide the financing needed to renovate 24,000 square feet of space to create 18 classrooms, support offices, a shared kitchen, and a multi-purpose room. This includes constructing a new 3,100 square-foot mezzanine level for student use.

This loan was supported by NFF’s credit enhancement grant program facilitated by the United States Department of Education's Credit Enhancement for Charter School Facilities Program. This credit enhancement grant program allows us to offer low-cost capital that helps start-up and single-site schools acquire, construct, and renovate new or existing facilities.

Partner: Texas Charter School Development (TCSD)

Impact Public Schools (IPS) is a network of three charter schools serving the racially, ethnically, linguistically, and socioeconomically diverse regions close to Seattle and Tacoma, Washington. The mission of IPS is to prepare its K-5 students for academic success and positive impact in their communities as the next generation of equity-driven, innovative leaders. IPS serves approximately 1,300 students annually across its three sites and prioritizes college readiness, project-based learning, and small group instruction in the classroom. Since its inception in 2016, IPS has grown to be the largest charter network in the State of Washington.

This loan will support significant renovations to IPS’ fourth campus, the newest addition to its network. The school will be in the City of Renton, where 55% of the population identifies as BIPOC and the poverty rate exceeds the state and national averages. The project will result in 24 new classrooms, an administrative space, commons, a kitchen, a parking lot, and a playground. When the new school opens in the fall of 2023, this expansion will grow the school’s total capacity by nearly 600 students – allowing IPS to offer high-quality education to more students across Washington.

Partners: Civic Builders, Charter School Growth Fund, Washington Charter School Development

RISE Prep Mayoral Academy (“RISE”) is a tuition-free public charter school serving students from Woonsocket, North Smithfield, and Burrillville, Rhode Island. From a kindergarten class of 50 students in 2015, RISE continues to grow, adding one grade each year until 2024, when it will serve grades K-8. The school emphasizes Individualized Education Plans that respond to the unique learning needs of each student. With 480 scholars in attendance, RISE will open a new high school in 2024-2025, as well as a second K-8 campus in 2028. All of RISE’s students qualify as low-income.

RISE spent its first three years in a temporary site that it quickly outgrew. NFF financed RISE’s acquisition and renovation of their current campus – a four-story, 34,000 square foot building just half a mile from their original location. To date, NFF has closed three separate loans to RISE (totaling $~15.2 million), with LISC purchasing a 50% participation in each transaction. This loan will support the third and final phase of the project, which includes a double-story gymnasium, classrooms, and a conference room totaling 8,500 square feet. This brings RISE one step closer to their goal of creating more space for its rapidly growing student body and expanding its programs to more young scholars.

Partner: LISC

KIPP Philadelphia Public Schools is one of 28 regions of KIPP’s national, non-profit network of college preparatory, public charter schools educating elementary, middle, and high school students. Since 2003, KIPP Philadelphia has built a track record of preparing students in educationally underserved communities for success through college and in life. From a founding class of 90 students, KIPP Philadelphia has grown to serve more than 2,600 students in grades K-12 through five schools, with plans to expand to an additional five schools over the next several years. MIS Capital LLC is a mission-driven developer that provides real estate planning, economic development research and asset regeneration services on behalf of impact-focused organizations. MIS Capital's mission is to develop successful and sustainable projects that deliver lasting impact within their communities.

This loan will allow KIPP Philadelphia to move their elementary school to a property in West Philadelphia that has remained vacant since 2013. MIS Capital will renovate the entire property, preserving the historic façade and brickwork while making necessary updates to infrastructure like pipes and ventilation and completely redesigning recreational facilities. When this development is complete, KIPP Philadelphia will begin renting the property and opening it to students, with the ultimate goal of purchasing the building and giving its elementary school a permanent home. This development is part of a larger expansion that will allow the KIPP Philadelphia network to nearly double in size, serving an estimated 4,480 students by 2030.

Partners: BlueHub Capital, Cinnaire, National Trust Community Investment Corporation, Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, Reinvestment Fund, Truist Community Capital

LIFE Academy, a startup charter school in Montgomery, Alabama, provides students in grades K-8 with a holistic education rooted in trauma-informed learning, student connectedness, culturally relevant curricula, and authentic community partnership. This low-interest loan from NFF’s Resilient Communities Fund – NFF’s first ever loan in Alabama – will allow LIFE Academy to purchase and renovate the former St. Jude Educational Institute and Catholic Hospital, a key stop on the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail and the birthplace of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s two children. A campus with such a prominent role in the civil rights movement will be a powerfully symbolic location for a school serving a city whose public school students are 75% Black. Owning – rather than renting – this historically significant building will help the school save money in the long term and serve its community for years to come.

Partners: Blue Hub Capital, Hope Credit Union