DUE TO THE LARGE NUMBERS ATTENDING THE Texas Charter School Conference, please keep in mind the following information:

•  To avoid long lines at the registration table, you may check-in early and pick up your conference packets on Sunday, April 28^th from 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. at Moody Gardens Hotel, Ballroom Entrance.
•  The general session will start at 9:00 a.m. and breakouts will end at 4:00 p.m. each day.
•  No walk-in registrations will be permitted.
•  Due to security measures, all registered attendees must wear their namebadges at all times, including the evening event on Monday, April 29^th.
•  For your safety, hotel security will be tight.
  

HOTEL ROOM CANCELLATION As you know, the Moody Gardens Hotel has completely sold out of sleeping rooms for the conference. If you find that you do not need all the sleeping rooms you have reserved at Moody Gardens please call the Resource Center at 210-348-7890 as soon as possible with that information. This will provide an opportunity for other conference attendees to move from an overflow hotel to the Moody Gardens.

SHUTTLE SERVICE For shuttle service reservations to Moody Gardens from Houston Hobby and Houston International airports call 409-740-5466, well in advance of your travel date.

DIRECTORY UPDATE The Resource Center is updating the charter school directory for our Charter School Conference packets. If there has been a change in your director, address, phone, fax, grades offered, or current enrollment please email those changes to oneillp@texas.net.

NATIONAL CHARTER SCHOOLS WEEK By now you should have received your Charter Schools Week Idea Kit from Charter Friends National Network. To have your events posted on the Charter Schools Week website, go to www.charterfriends.org/csweek-events.html. Charter Schools Week is April 29 - May 3, 2002. For information call 651-644-6115.

DISSEMINATION GRANT By now charter school administrators for Generations 1, 2, and 3 should have received a dissemination grant application in the mail. If you are an administrator of a Generation 1, 2 or 3 charter school and have not received a copy in the mail, you can find the application on the following web page: www.tea.state.tx.us./charter/rfa.htm. This is a competitive grant due in the Texas Education Agency Document Control Center no later than 5:00 p.m., on Thursday, May 9, 2002. Only applicants submitting the application on time and meeting the criteria described in Part I, Section VII Selection Criteria are eligible for this round of dissemination grants. It is recommended that prior to completing an application, you carefully review the criteria and assess your eligibility. In the same section of the application, you will find the scoring guide that will be used by readers to evaluate each application. If you have questions, please call Esther Murguia Garcia at 512-463-9575.

CHARTER INTERSCHOLASTIC LEAGUE If anyone is interested in forming a Charter Interscholastic League for academic competitions or Varsity High School athletic competitions, please contact Dr. Ron Nelms, Calvin Nelms Charter High School, rnelms@mail.cnchs.net. If there is enough interest, Ron will schedule a meeting during the charter school conference in Galveston.