New Roots Project | Summary 

Objective:

New Roots Iowa will design, build, staff, and launch two new Iowa charter campuses at separate locations, ensuring facilities completion, regulatory approval, and operational readiness by opening day. 

The project goal is to open both campuses on time and within budget, with at least 90% of key roles filled, 80% of target enrollment pre-registered, and all staff completing core onboarding and training so students experience a safe, high-quality learning environment from Day 1.

Timeline:

Initial Project Timeline: 6 Months
Actual Project Delivery: 6 Months
Our timeline is highly compressed, with both campuses scheduled to open for students on August 1, only six months from project start. This means we need a detailed, integrated project plan with clear milestones, owners, and dependencies, and very limited room for slippage. To support that, we are proactively identifying key risks and tying each one to specific mitigation steps and contingency actions so we can protect scope, schedule, and quality.

Budget:

Initial Project Budget: $2,000,000
Final Project Spend: $2,000,000

The project budget is $2 million and will be actively tracked to ensure it remains transparent, accurate, and aligned with our priorities. We have identified potential cost reductions in advance and developed plans to implement them thoughtfully if needed, so we can manage expenses without compromising safety, quality, or the student experience.

Challenges & Solutions:

Challenge: Compressed six-month timeline to design, build, staff, and launch two campuses for an August 1 opening.  
Solution: Use ClickUp to build a detailed master schedule with critical-path milestones, owners, and dependencies, and run weekly status and risk reviews to catch and address delays early. 

Challenge: First time opening a charter school in Iowa with unfamiliar regulations and authorizer expectations.
Solution: Work with legal counsel and Iowa DOE contacts, and track all state-specific requirements in a ClickUp compliance checklist so nothing required for approval or opening is missed.

Challenge: Coordinating facilities, hiring, and enrollment workstreams across two sites at the same time.  
Solution: Organize ClickUp spaces and views by workstream (Facilities, HR, Enrollment and Marketing, Instruction), assign leads, and use shared dashboards to manage dependencies and ownership.

New Roots Project | Artifacts