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Growing Vibrant Learning Communities 

Key curricula such as healthcare services are offered at both campuses, as shown in this photo from the Hamilton campus

Marshall High School

We have a long-standing relationship with Marshall High School in Middletown, Ohio, part of the greater Cincinnati metropolitan area. Marshall is a school within the Oakmont Education Services network. Over the years, we've provided financing to this innovative charter network to support their approach to education, and to successful dropout prevention and recovery programs. 

Marshall High School’s educational model recognizes that many students grapple with challenges outside their control that can dramatically impact graduation rates. For example, financial hardship, family crises, and health matters often force young adults of high school age to work to support themselves and/or their families, creating an obstacle to graduating within the traditional timeframe. Marshall offers students the opportunity to attend school part-time while working, effectively providing a "longer high school" experience. Marshall enrolls people as old as 21 into their program.

In addition to alternative scheduling, the vocational training offered at the school - with programs in key marketable fields such as manufacturing, healthcare, culinary arts and other skilled trades - facilitates job placement, ensuring that students gain practical training and employment opportunities. 

In 2023, we provided a third loan to finance the establishment of Marshall’s second campus in the neighboring city of Hamilton, Ohio. This expansion was initiated by an invitation from the local school district, recognizing the successful model that Marshall had implemented in Middletown, and seeking to bring the same opportunities to their community. 

Marshall’s success can be attributed in part to the solid and empathic leadership of the principals: Kelven Moss, at the new Hamilton campus, and Chuck Hall, the longtime principal of its original campus in Middletown.

Students at both the Middletown and Hamilton campuses have opportunities to learn a trade.

 

Chuck Hall, principal at Marshall’s Middletown campus, shares how his own background provides him with deep empathy for the students. 

 

About Self-Help's Charter School Lending  

Self-Help is proud to have supported high-quality charter public schools through our facilities lending for over 25+ years. We’ve partnered with schools in 19 states and Washington, DC. Our focus is to provide access to high quality education for students of low income and diverse backgrounds. We continue to seek partners who share in our vision to create and maintain challenging, diverse, and equitable learning environments for learners. 

Collegiate Baton Rouge 

The COVID-19 pandemic cast a long shadow over student learning and achievement across communities. School closures and the transition to hybrid or virtual instruction disrupted not just skill development, but also the social-emotional well-being of school-aged children. Preliminary data show pandemic-related learning losses disproportionately affecting the students from marginalized communities, further exacerbating existing disparities in access to quality education. 

These challenges have been felt acutely by schools across the country, heightening Self-Help’s commitment to maintaining strong relationships with charter school networks within our existing portfolio, and to reaching out to forward-thinking charter networks to make new connections that align with Self-Help’s mission.  

The Collegiate Academies network in Louisiana is an excellent example of a valued Self-Help relationship. Collegiate, now a network of five open-enrollment high schools, and two post-high school programs, serving 3,000 students in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, started six years ago with 100 students and a vision of empowering young minds, and nurturing their potential. The network demonstrates its ethos of “all means all” through its dedication to excellence in education, with an eye toward racial equity and robust support for diverse learners. Self-Help’s relationship with the network began in 2017 when Self-Help financed the construction of Collegiate Baton Rouge (CBR), a school that has ranked in the top three in academic growth citywide since its founding.  

 In 2023, Self-Help embarked on its second loan to CBR to refinance and consolidate existing debt. This strategic move provided financial flexibility, bolstering the network’s overall ability to combat lingering pandemic-related learning loss, and support students' social-emotional growth. Self-Help’s ongoing relationship with Collegiate Academies has provided a rich understanding of the school’s challenges and needs. We are proud to work with Collegiate Academies to forward our shared commitment to excellence in education. 

Students in the corridor at Collegiate Baton Rouge