Charter schools in New York State are free, public schools that are released from many of the regulations that apply to traditional public schools. However, charter schools are held to a higher level of accountability. Because each school is created by the approval of a “charter,” the school must meet the charter's terms to remain open.

Although charter schools receive some funding from the State, they get only a portion of the funds that go to traditional public schools. Consequently, charter schools must seek additional financing through donations, grants and other resources.

Charter schools are started by dedicated individuals whose goal is to serve a particular population of students that, in their charter, they have shown to be currently underserved. Because of the hard work and vision of the school's founders, a charter school can fair well academically despite the drastically reduced public funding. Nonetheless, tight budgets are always an issue.

Any New York public school student can apply to enroll in a charter school. If a charter school receives more applications than it has space for, it selects students via a lottery. For information about our school's enrollment procedures, click "Enrollment" on the left-hand menu.

Links about Charter Schools

- New York City Charter School Center

- Charter Schools Institute, the State University of New York

- New York Times article about the success of Charter Schools

- New York Times Q & A about Charter Schools

Photo Credits

(top) Avana, Grade 5

(bottom) Tatyana, Grade 5