Budget & Finance

The Business of Running Schools

December 08, 1999 3 min read
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Following is a sampling of for-profit education management organizations, or EMOs, in the United States. Grade levels listed indicate the widest range of goals offered in any of the company’s schools.

Advantage Schools Inc.
Headquarters: Boston
Runs 16 highly structured charter schools enrolling roughly 10,000 students across K-7 in the District of Columbia and nine states: Arizona, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Schools start with about 500 K-5 students and add a grade a year through 12th grade. See www.advantage-schools.com.
Beacon Education Management LLC
Headquarters: Westborough, Mass.
Runs 20 charter school serving 3,600 students in grades K-9 in five states; Illionois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, and North Carolina. Company also provides more limited services to seven charter schools serving 700 K-12 students in Massachusetts, Michigan, and North Carolina. See www.beaconedu.com.
Charter Schools USA Inc.
Headquarters: Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Runs five charter schools in Florida enrolling 1,900 students in grades K-12. Company contracts with municipal governments, businesses, and established nonprofit groups, among others. See www.charterschoolsusa.com.
Edison Schools Inc.
Headquarters: New York City
Runs 26 independent charter schools and 53 traditional public schools and charter schools under contract with school districts. A publicly held company, Edison serves 38,000 students in grades K-12 in 79 schools in the District of Columbia and 16 states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas. See www.edisonschools.com.
The Leona Group LLC
Headquarters: East Lansing, Michigan
Runs 35 elementary and secondary charter schools serving 11,000 students in grades K-12 in Arizona and Michigan. See www.leonagroup.com.
Mosaica Education Inc.
Headquarters: New York City
Runs eight charter schools using integrated, interdisciplinary curriculum serving 3,000 students in grades K-7 in three states: Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Company plans to open two more charter schools in Michigan in January. See www.mosaicaeducation.com.
National Heritage Academies
Headquarters: Grand Rapids, Mich.
Runs 22 back-to-basics charter schools serving 7,900 students across grades K-8 in Michigan and North Carolina. Model calls for opening schools that offer kindergarten through grade 5 and grow to 8th grade. See www.heritageacademies.com.
Nobel Learning Communities Inc.
Headquarters: Media, Pa.
Runs 137 private schools in 13 states serving 17,600 students in preschool to 12th grade. A publicly held company, Nobel opened its first charter school, serving 600-plus students in grades K-8, this fall in Philadelphia, and plans to open up to four more next year. See www.nobeleducation.com.
Sabis Educational Systems Inc.
Headquarters:Eden Prairie, Minn.
Runs four charter schools serving more than 3,200 students across grades K-11 in Massachusetts and Michigan. Company also serves more than 15,000 students from preschool to 12th grade in private schools: one in Minnesota, 17 others in nine countries outside the United States. See www.sabis.net.
The Tesserac T Group Inc.
Headquarters: Scottsdale, Ariz.
Company runs 16 charter schools across grades K-12 serving 2,300 students in Arizona, the District of Columbia, and Texas. The publicly held company, formerly known as Education Alternatives Inc., also runs 21 preschools in Arizona and Colorado and four private schools in Arizona and Colorado and four private schools in Arizona and Minnesota. See www.tesseractgroup.org.

A version of this article appeared in the December 08, 1999 edition of Education Week as The Business of Running Schools

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