Suggested Tour Agenda and Draft Invite: 

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Invite them to:

• Meet select school staff in key and varied roles and departments (special education, school therapist, advanced classes, etc.)

• Tour any advanced or unique programs and provide a hands on experience (robotics lab, aquaponics, etc.)

• Speak to a class about what a legislator does and the importance of voting

• Hear from students on the importance of school choice (present what was created in the proposed curriculum activity).  
   

Information to relay:

• Number of students (note if you serve a large minority population)

• Graduation success rate

• College or work / apprenticeship acceptance rates

• If there is a wait list, explain why

• Anecdotes of the unique students you serve and how school choice improved their circumstances 

• Your role in the local community 

• Challenges, if any, in working with the local school district or PDE

• Remind them that your school operates on X% of taxes allocated per student and the school district retains the difference

• Explain what you could do with additional funding

• Discuss the challenges your school would face if the proposed PDE regulation were enacted

• Ask that they represent your school and students in Harrisburg

• THANK THEM FOR THEIR TIME AND REPRESENTATION 

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Additional considerations:

• Take a few photos during the visit and tag them in a thank you post on social media following the visit. Don't forget to also tag @143KRising. 

• For cyber charter schools, this agenda can be reformatted for a virtual visit. If you have any in-person activities, consider inviting them to participate in those. 

• Send a follow up thank you email for attending, include some photos from their visit and remind them the importance of protecting charter schools in legislative or budget proceedings

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Draft Invitation: 

Find your school's local elected officials here. Enter the school address and invite the Senator and Representative for separate tours via email. After you send the invitation, if they have not responded in 5 business days, call the district office phone number, which is also listed on the website above and follow up.

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Draft Invitation Email: 

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Subject: Invitation to Tour [SCHOOL NAME]

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Rep. / Senator [NAME]:

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In your district, [SCHOOL NAME] serves [NUMBER] students. We invite you to tour our school, learn about our programming and meet some of our faculty and students. If you would like to speak to our students in a class or assembly on what it means to be an elected official and the importance of voting, we would happily arrange that setting, as well. 

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What is your availability for a tour? Our school hours are [TIME].

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We look forward to hearing from you and meeting you in person soon!

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* Ensure your school's physical address and your phone number are included in your signature.