By Katarzyna Ignatik, ’20
Eric Coykendall has been with the Barney Charter School Initiative for five years—watching the program grow from a staff of three to a staff of 15. The number of schools affiliated with the BCSI has also grown during that time from the single digits to over 20.
“We have an affiliation with charter schools unlike most,” Coykendall says. “We’re unique in that we’re not trying to make money. We’re presenting a great model and helping schools live up to it.”
Coykendall came to the BCSI team from the Claremont Institute, where he helped run summer programs. As a 2010 Hillsdale College alumnus, he gladly took the opportunity to join the BCSI team not only because of the job, but also because the Hillsdale community was a suitable place to raise a family.
Coykendall said he took to his new position quickly. “My job is a combination of theory and practice, a good mission with concrete ends. We’re raising up a citizenry,” Coykendall says. He helps people every day with the managerial and administrative aspects of running schools. This resonates with Coykendall, whose academic training is in politics, and who is currently working toward a Ph.D. in politics.
Though Coykendall’s job title as associate director of the BCSI hasn’t changed since his first day on the job, his day-to-day duties have. “I started out in curriculum and instruction, mostly in history and government,” Coykendall recalls. “I’ve increasingly spent time on founding efforts, talking about what it takes to start schools, guiding schools through the application process, and writing and defending charter applications.” He adds, “It’s been a change from a lot of personal interactions to policy.” From his years of experience, Coykendall has learned how to best help schools, including incorporating more training for the school boards and more crisis communication support.
This doesn’t mean that Coykendall has left the personal aspect of the job behind. “Often I’m the one who gets the first phone call from the person who wants to start a school,” Coykendall says, adding that this is one of his favorite parts of the job. “To remember that first phone call when the school opens and has hundreds of students…that’s pretty cool.”
In particular, Coykendall mentions the recent ribbon-cutting at the new Ivywood Classical Academy in Plymouth Township, Michigan. Coykendall was there when the idea for the school had just begun—during an excited conversation in the living room of the now-board president.
Ultimately, Coykendall sees his role and the role of those in the BCSI office as one of support. The team is there to strengthen “the work that’s being put in on the ground every day by our boards and educators,” he says.
