Strong leadership and dynamic teams are cornerstones of a great school.
Our School Leadership and Design Fellowship (SLDF) is a small, cohort-based incubation experience for individuals or teams who are ready to begin designing a high-quality, transformational charter public school.

Watch School Leaders Reflect on SLDF
Our core design principles
WA Charters is model agnostic. We work with leaders designing a variety of school model types. However, we believe that all transformational schools have certain core principles in common:
- Diversity, equity, and inclusion at all levels – students, staff, board, and community
- Post-secondary readiness for ALL students
- Students-first approach that includes personalization and restorative practices to meet the academic and social-emotional needs of the whole child
- A foundation of strong leadership and exceptional teaching
- Authentic engagement with families and communities to co-create solutions to serve educational needs within the community
- Contribute to the growth of a healthy public education sector
Our committment
Designing and applying to open an excellent school is a heavy lift. Our School Leadership and Design Fellows benefit from a full range of financial, technical, and strategic supports.
- One Year Salary Stipend
- Application Writing
- Coaching and Project Management
- Model Development
- Guided Travel to High-Performing Charter Schools
- Community Engagement
- Board Development
- Facilities
- Securing Additional Grants
