Hello! We are Tatonka Education Services (TES for short), and we think charter schools are the best thing ever! 

Our story began in 1993 when Carol S. Hansen, CEO, founded Tatonka Capital Corporation – a public finance corporation created to support government borrowers by funding essential equipment, services and projects. Over the last 30 years, Tatonka Capital has helped charter schools, neighborhood schools and school districts fund projects across the US. 

As Hansen gained more insight into the charter school world, she developed a deep passion and respect for the charter school movement. As a child, she witnessed firsthand how the one-size-fits-all model of district schools can fail students who fall outside the “norm.” The innovative, flexible, and tight-knit model of charter schools appealed to her. She wanted a school that would inspire her children to take risks and dream big, all while ensuring they didn't get lost as just another number in the system. 

Hansen became an early member of the Board of Renaissance Charter School (which now operates as a magnate school in Douglas County, Colorado). Hansen served in several board positions, including President. She was instrumental in helping Renaissance achieve their first build-to-suit, school building. Hansen's three children attended Renaissance. She watched them grow into confident, thoughtful leaders who unapologetically strive for their dreams.  As adults, all three credit their strong sense of self and problem-solving skills to expeditionary learning. This experience showed Hansen how powerful and important charter schools are, strengthening her dedication to the charter school movement and the desire to support school choice for all children.

In 2015, through her work with Tatonka Capital, Hansen was presented with the opportunity to support three charter schools that found themselves on the brink of financial insolvency. Hansen knew her team had the necessary skillsets to help the schools turn their financial and operational situation around. 

And just like that, TES was born. An organization dedicated to providing high-quality back office services that build strong, stable, flourishing charter schools. From 2015 – 2018 TES worked tirelessly to get the three charters back on track. Through vendor negotiation, financial management, and strategic support and coaching, TES stabilized the finances and operations of all three charter schools. 

The first few years of providing charter school services laid the foundation for what TES would eventually become. As Hansen saw the cultural, economic, and geographic differences between the three schools, she knew the key to each school’s success was to embrace their unique way of doing things. Tatonka Education Services wanted to treat each school as a unique community of students and educators. Thus, the core principle of TES was conceived: 

Charter school services must be customized to fit the needs of their unique school community.

The more time we spend in this industry, the deeper we understand the need to customize our services. That’s why TES has no two customers whose services are alike. We work with school leaders to identify their strengths and areas of need so that we can build custom services around their community. 

TES’ journey continued as we grew our service offerings to meet the needs of our customers. In 2019 TES made a critical philosophical shift by moving our “lens” to that of an educator and not a business person. While Hansen and her team were first-class business operators, we realized we were missing a core piece of the puzzle – an educator's perspective. Allie Byrne joined the TES team, and a whole new phase of TES began. Byrne spent eight years in the classroom in charter and district schools. In 2019 she received her Masters in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Denver. 

Today's TES framework, guided by Ms. Byrne and the Academic team, ensures that our business services teams operate in a way that best supports educators. From budget development to grant management, strategic hiring to HR policy development, and risk mitigation to facilities management, each TES department operates in a space that balances business best practices with meeting the needs of the modern classroom. 

Our team is proud to support school leaders through a servant leadership model. We believe in empowering school leaders, setting high expectations, and giving back to our community by participating in the important work of a charter school. 

Through other industry and volunteer work, Hansen has embraced the approach promoted by the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals. TES focuses on SDG goals #4 and #8, quality education and decent work. 

Hansen and the entire TES staff take pride in their work and share a belief that they want to make a difference. TES is a way for us to utilize our business skills to contribute to something greater, something that makes a difference in the world. We are honored to serve our school communities and be a part of their impact on moving our society forward.