SIP Consulting
Drawing on the expertise of experienced school leaders, curriculum specialists, and academic coaches, School Improvement Partnership Consulting helps schools strengthen instructional leadership, optimize organizational systems, and accelerate academic improvement.
- Early Warning System: The School Improvement Partnership Database allows institutional investors and lenders to run their charter school portfolios through our Distress Filters to identify portfolio members that are declining in enrollment or Days Cash on Hand, or producing negative net income. Left unattended, these issues can mature into payment defaults—or worse. SIP Consulting provides a printout of this data to help clients determine which struggling charter schools to prioritize for support through SIP Consulting.
- Leadership Coaching: Provide instructional leadership coaching for principals and assistant principals, drawing on established frameworks such as Get Better Faster, Teach Like a Champion, and the instructional coaching approach used by the New York City Teaching Fellows program. Support is tailored to each school’s academic covenant targets and improvement priorities.
- School Organization & Systems Review: Conduct diagnostic reviews of staffing structures, master schedules, instructional systems, and common planning time to identify organizational barriers to academic progress and opportunities for improvement.
- Academic Improvement Planning & Progress Monitoring: Help schools develop targeted academic improvement plans aligned with the performance metrics outlined in their bond documents. Establish a consistent monitoring process that tracks progress against key goals and integrates with SIP’s existing investor reporting cycle.
SIP Consulting delivers specialized leadership coaching and academic improvement support tailored to the unique needs of charter schools.
Services
Early Warning System
Leadership Coaching
School Organization & Systems Review
Academic Improvement Planning & Progress Monitoring
SIP Consulting Team
Maria Mills brings nearly 20 years of experience in public education, administration, budgeting, and curriculum development. She currently serves as Manager of Reporting Services at SIP. Maria served as Deputy Director with Charter Schools USA, overseeing multiple campuses and multi-million-dollar budgets while driving statewide gains in student achievement.
Matt Price is a 20-year veteran of public education, serving as a science teacher, assistant principal, and currently a principal of a comprehensive 9-12 public high school. He employs a student-centered approach to managing schools, with a focus on compliance while maintaining a vision of improving student outcomes based on continued data-based implementation of programs and procedures.
Liz Sweeney has spent 35 years helping clients make informed financial decisions and strengthen their financial resiliency. Her expertise includes debt financing, financial and debt capacity analysis, credit modeling and scenario analysis, rating agency communications, financial benchmarking, and board education. Liz works with clients to identify financing options, financial vulnerabilities, and operational risks; establish meaningful benchmarks and peer comparisons; educate boards; and strengthen communication with investors, lenders, and credit analysts. For municipal advisory activities involving debt financing, she is registered with the MSRB and SEC and holds Series 50 and 54 credentials.
Clifton Jones is an owner’s representative and charter school facilities finance specialist with 17 years of experience in school facilities finance and development. He guides charter schools and nonprofits through facility projects from site acquisition and feasibility analysis to design, construction, and occupancy, while supporting strategic facilities planning and federal and state grant processes. With more than a decade of experience administering federal charter school facility financing programs and advising operators and lenders nationwide, Clifton brings expertise in CDFI-financed projects, loan requirements, and facility development.
Consulting Partners
ShaVon Savage has spent twenty-five years in PreK-20 education as a teacher, principal, district administrator, education attorney, and entrepreneur. She is the Managing Member of Mosaic School Supports, which builds equitable, high-performing learning ecosystems and advises the administrators and entrepreneurs who lead them.
Blueprint Education Partners is a leadership and organizational effectiveness firm helping schools, districts, and education organizations reach their full potential. Founded by accomplished education leaders with decades of experience, the firm understands the challenges of leading complex organizations and driving meaningful change. Through leadership training, executive coaching, leadership fellowships, team retreats, systems development, and implementation support, Blueprint Education Partners develops the leaders, teams, and systems that drive organizational performance. Combining deep expertise, practical tools, and genuine partnership, the firm helps organizations establish ambitious standards, build high-performing teams, and strengthen accountability. It turns ambitious goals into action, builds the capacity to execute, and helps organizations achieve exceptional, lasting results.
