oe is a founding board member and CEO of a new charter network with schools in Arizona and Colorado. He left the day-to-day CEO role in 2018 and still very much believes and supports the work the school is doing. 

The foundational principles for the educational philosophy of Leman Academy of Excellence are built on a Classical Education platform combined with Charlotte Mason’s philosophies. The schools highlight the parent/teacher/scholar relationship to bring out the best in each and every child and a rigorous curriculum. 

Leman Academy opened in 2015 with over 550 scholars. In 2016 the campus grew to 1080 scholars from PreK to 7th grade.  Leman Academy opened in Sierra Vista Arizona and plans to expand to Parker (Denver Metro) Colorado, Oro Valley, and Mesa in 2018. As of August of 2018, there are 4200 scholars ready to start learning in 6 campuses in two states. From PreK to 8th grade, good things are happening at Leman Academy. Learn more at www.LemanAcademy.org. Today, Leman has 7 campuses and about 6000 scholars. 

Construction and development, curriculum, and operations are all important aspects of executing such rapid growth. Studies report that the most important thing in a quality school is quality teachers.  Joe’s focus on leading and inspiring people is probably his strongest attribute as a leader.  The retention rate of teaching staff is hovering in the 60% range for many school districts in America. A recent investment offering by Pipper Jaffery audited Leman’s teacher retention rate at about 90%!  This happens because of a focused effort on teachers’ hiring, training, and support. Leman Academy was also voted by their communities as;

 Teacher   RetentionMaranaSierra VistaOro Valley
 1st Year2015-201674.10%NANA
2nd Year2016-201773.20%100%NA
3rd Year2017-201889.10%91.70%90.40%
     
 *Piper Jaffrey Schedule A 2018 Bond Offering   
2017-2018 School YearMaranaSierra VistaOro Valley
Teachers563138
Inst. Staff21723
Non-Inst Staff231012
Total Staff1004173
    
Total Students1117640751
    
Teach: Student Ratio20:0121:0020:01

“Best Charter School,” Arizona Daily Star, Readers’ Choice Awards, 2015;
“Best Charter School,” Runner-up, Arizona Daily Star, Readers’ Choice Awards, 2016;
“Best Charter School,” Arizona Daily Star, Readers’ Choice Awards, 2017
“Best Community Presence,” Arizona Daily Star, Readers’ Choice Awards, 2017
“Best Work Place Culture,” Arizona Daily Star, Readers’ Choice Awards, 2017

“Best School in Cochise County”, Sierra Vista Herald, Readers Choice Awards, 2017 and 2018

“Best Place To Work in Cochise County”, Sierra Vista Herald, Readers Choice Awards, 2017 and 2018

“Educator of the Year – Runner Up – Lisa Locke Kinder Leman”, Sierra Vista Herald, 2018

Construction and Development

Joe lead all real estate purchasing, local governmental entitlements, architectural design, and construction management of the 6 campuses in the Leman Academy network.

Close to $100m in start-up financing and bond refi packages have been structured and managed by Joe and his team.

Each campus launched with 45-60,000 square feet and when completed was just under 100,000 square feet with a capacity of 1200 scholars. With attention to detail and intense upfront planning the campuses were delivered on tight time frames and with less than 1% allowance for change orders.

Systems – Operations and Curriculum

Combining business principles of systemization with the artistic nature of education is a key factor in the school network’s success. From HR, training, to marketing and client services, all aspects of the school network had strong business systems at its foundation.

Joe spearheaded the curriculum design and delivery process which tied in standards-based data into a Classical Educational model. A full suite of curriculum offerings by grade and subject has been constructed and in the future, may be available to other schools around the US.