BES Fellowship: FAQ
Program Overview & Tracks
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What are the tracks of the BES Fellowship?
Aspiring school founders can apply to two tracks: Build & Community Co-Design
Through the Build Track, Fellows spend one year designing a school model in response to community needs and grounded in learnings from excellent schools. Within the Build Track, some Fellows are identified as Character & Equity Fellows. These Fellows found a school with character and equity at the core of its model, in addition to other locally responsive elements. Fellows engage in additional opportunities such as communities of practice and conferences to center character and equity in their school models.
In the Community Co-Design Track, Fellows spend two years co-designing a school alongside a community co-design team that helps seek out and incorporate community input into the design of the school. Currently, the Community Co-Design Track is offered in Metro Atlanta and Alabama, while the Build Track is offered in all other regions. Fellows must follow the track that is offered in their respective region. All Fellowship spaces in Arizona are reserved for Character and Equity Fellows.
A third track that exists within the BES Fellowship is the Growth Track, which offers tailored support to existing schools that are seeking to replicate or expand. While this track is not open for candidates to directly apply to, BES develops partnerships with schools or networks planning to grow and then works to identify and/or support a Fellow to lead these efforts. If you are interested in learning more about the Growth Track, email Chief External Affairs Officer Jasmine Fryer at jfryer@bes.org.
What is the Community Co-Design Fellowship?
BES Fellows in the Community Co-Design Track build and lead a fresh-start public charter school alongside a community co-design team. These Fellows have a two-year engagement rather than the typical single year most BES Build Fellows have to design their school and submit the charter application.
As with Build Fellows, Community Co-Design Fellows still benefit from three additional years of Follow On Support once the school is authorized to support them during their planning year and first two years of operation, for a total of five years of support through the BES Fellowship.
Eligibility & Candidate Profile
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What type of leaders does BES seek for the Fellowship?
At BES, we partner with passionate, equity-focused leaders who bring deep instructional expertise and a commitment to expanding access to high-quality education. Our Fellows are experienced educators and school leaders driven to design, found, and lead excellent schools that reflect and respond to the communities they serve.
The BES Fellowship is grounded in a commitment to equity and inclusive leadership. Each cohort is made up of individuals with diverse identities, lived experiences, and perspectives, essential to creating excellent, community-driven schools.
Most BES Fellows have:
- A Master’s or Doctorate degree
- 10+ years of instructional experience
- Served as a Senior Leader in a school setting
- 6+ years of managerial experience
Strong BES Fellows are:
- Instructional Leaders with a proven record of improving student achievement, especially in ELA and Math
- Community-Rooted individuals with strong local ties and a long-term (7+ years) commitment to serve
- Equity-Driven Visionaries dedicated to reimagining what’s possible for all students
- Builders ready to design, found, and lead high-quality, sustainable schools grounded in community needs
Application & Selection Process
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What is the application process for the BES Fellowship?
Applying for the BES Fellowship is a six-step process that includes an online application, a phone call with a BES recruiter, and a series of virtual interviews. Depending on the Fellowship track and/or region, candidates may be asked to interview with local partners or funders before a final decision is made. In these instances, the selection of a candidate is a mutual decision between BES and the partner organization, with BES managing the process to ensure consistency and equity. Learn more here.
If I don’t get accepted to the Fellowship, can I apply the following year?
We welcome both first-time and returning applicants. Throughout the recruitment cycle, BES offers opportunities for aspiring school founders to participate in virtual Lunch & Learn events and informational webinars. We encourage you to attend these to hear from the Talent & Recruitment team and learn how you can strengthen their application.
We encourage applicants to stay connected with BES and take advantage of opportunities to see strong schools through Leadership Intensives as you prepare for founding in the coming years.
Regions & Placements
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Where is the BES Fellowship available?
Fellows are required to live in the community where they are proposing a school during the Fellowship.
The BES Fellowship only supports Fellows who are interested in launching schools in priority regions within the United States.
See question below for additional details.
How are Fellowship regions determined and finalized?
There are many factors we analyze when determining regions for the BES Fellowship. These include, but are not limited to, (in no particular order):
- Authorization landscape – This includes the state of the overall market, demonstrated need, and state and local politics that may be barriers to authorization, including charter caps for the Build Track and Growth Track.
- Talent landscape – Access to a diverse talent base to identify Fellows and once authorized, a landscape in which our Fellows will be more likely to have success recruiting and retaining teachers, leaders, and staff that reflect the surrounding community and ensure school and student success.
- Community relationships, support, and national/local funding – We ultimately want our Fellows to be successful in designing and founding a locally-responsive school and recognize they will need education champions as well as funding for the Fellowship, school start-up, and launch. We analyze these factors to be able to assess opportunities and risk towards this goal in the geography’s education ecosystem. Variables that are considered include the presence of education advocacy groups, family champions, and philanthropic support for the Fellowship and for the school.
This list is dynamic and is considered alongside other factors which may be uniquely local or regional. For example, turnaround plans or new initiatives at the state level due to an influx of CSP funding may create opportunities to support school leaders with fewer barriers to entry.
Can I apply to regions that are not formally listed / do not have a specific regional application?
We assess and identify regions on an ongoing basis. An additional 1-2 placements per year are made possible through national funding that can be flexibly allocated to regions with demonstrated community need.
While we may not have dedicated partners in locations outside of our priority regions, we believe there is an opportunity for leaders to found new charter schools in these other areas. We encourage serious candidates to complete an interest form, especially if they have begun initial community engagement work and/or have deep connections to the community in which they are proposing to found a school.
Please note that if you are invited to begin the formal application process for a location that is not a priority region, the process may take longer than the timeline outlined on the website for confirmed Fellowship regions. Depending on various factors, a region may open at any time during the recruitment cycle, though they are likely to open by June to ensure that candidates have enough time to prepare for the start of the Fellowship in August.
If your region of interest does not open during the recruitment cycle, we may defer your application to the following recruitment cycle.
Program Experience
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What is the time commitment for the BES Fellowship?
The BES Fellowship is one or two years of training followed by three years of dedicated post-authorization support through Follow On Support to ensure that the school starts strong and sustains excellence over time.
Designing and launching a school through the BES Fellowship requires a significant time commitment. The majority of Fellows exclusively focus on the design and launch of their school during the initial Fellowship training year. Successful Fellows typically spend between 40-60 hours per week on Fellowship related tasks. All BES related training and coaching takes place during standard business hours, but community engagement events, board meetings, and other meetings may take place during evenings and weekends.
During the training year(s), Fellows receive a grant of $100,000 over twelve months that allows them to focus on the Fellowship.
Following the BES Fellowship, it is expected that leaders continue working toward the mission of their school for a minimum of 7-10 years, ensuring the school reaches a point of sustainability after the founding leader.
Is travel outside of your community required as part of the BES Fellowship?
Yes. Fellows spend 300+ hours (450+ for the Community Co-Design Fellowship) training and studying schools across the country.
Over the course of the training year(s), Fellows spend a minimum of three weeks studying schools across the country, in addition to five school studies in their region. Fellows also take part in at least two extended residencies to learn from schools with effective practices. These residencies are decided in partnership with the Fellow, BES coaches, and local partners. See question below on How Fellowship residencies work.
While BES Fellows spend ample time in their respective communities building essential local support, they will typically also spend approximately 11 weeks of the year doing school visits or residencies in other cities.
Does the Fellowship consist of individual or group work?
Both. The Fellowship incorporates a mix of independent and group work. Through independent work, each Fellow follows a tailored program that helps fill in the gaps in his or her own learning, skill set, or experience. As a group, Fellows explore the curriculum as a cohort, discuss and dissect ideas and themes, participate in training, and share their developing ideas and work.
How do Fellowship residencies work?
Fellows complete month-long residencies at high-performing schools in the winter and the summer of the Fellowship training year. Residency sites are chosen in collaboration with coaches and local partners (as applicable) based on the strength of their academic and organizational records, their relevance to a Fellow’s school design plans, and their ability to embrace the skills and experiences a newly-trained Fellow can offer. We also match the skills and gaps of the school leader with the Fellow to maximize learning and mentorship.
Over the course of the residency, Fellows complete projects that support the work of their host school, leverage their individual skill sets, and work toward their larger goal of developing an excellent school.
Post-Training Support & School Launch
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What happens between the Fellowship training year and the year before the proposed school opens?
By the end of the Fellowship, the Fellow has successfully built a board of directors / trustees and submitted a charter application to the charter authorizer (in some states / regions, this may occur after the Fellowship concludes, though coaching and support continue to ensure that the Fellow is prepared to submit their application). With support from BES, Fellows also commit to raising startup funds that will be used to support the launch of the school, including paying the salary of the school founder and other staff.
Upon authorization and/or 12 months prior to the opening of a school, Fellows move into the planning year and have access to Follow on Support through BES. While in the planning year, leaders work to hire staff, secure a facility, build curriculum, and enroll students. Through Follow On Support, leaders receive individualized and responsive coaching around key startup areas, including but not limited to: hiring, academic, operational, and cultural systems, enrollment, governance, and fundraising.
While Follow On Support is a paid program, BES subsidizes the cost of Follow On Support for alumni of the BES Fellowship and works to make sure the program is accessible to all alumni.
Do Fellows continue to receive support from BES once the Fellowship training year has ended?
Upon completion of the training year, BES continues to work closely with leaders and their founding teams through Follow On Support, to ensure that schools start strong and stay strong through the planning year and first two years of operation. Follow On Support addresses hands-on practical skills, strategic planning, fund development, board development, curriculum, evaluation, creating an anti-racist school environment, and much more.
While Follow On Support is a paid program,, BES subsidizes the cost of Follow On Support for BES alumni and works to make sure the program is accessible to all graduating Fellows.
BES also offers additional leadership development programs and services that are tailored to leaders’ specific needs.
Benefits & Employment Status
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Are BES Fellows employees of BES?
Fellows are not employees of BES and receive Form 1099 for the tax years in which the Fellowship training year falls.
Does BES offer a stipend and/or medical coverage?
The following benefits are provided to Build Track Fellows for one full year. Community Co-Design Fellows receive two years of support.
- Grant of $100,000 over 12 months
- Healthcare reimbursement of up to $6,000 for an individual healthcare plan or up to $8,000 for a family plan. All Fellows are required to demonstrate proof of medical coverage during the Fellowship. For other benefits offered to Fellows, please review the BES Fellowship job application.
- Travel and accommodations for training and during school study travel
- Technology support
- Reimbursement for up to $5,000 in moving expenses
- Reimbursements for school design expenses, design team expenses, or professional development (amount dependent on track)
- The opportunity to apply for BES start-up fund awards and/or those provided exclusively to Fellows by our partners