someone please explain a charter school

[calv]

our town, obviously like many others is having major budget issues. We're thinking of putting the kids into a charter school. Please share your knowledge/experience w/me. Pro's and Cons too. ;)

thanks!!

[SnuggleBuggles]

Ds1 goes to a charter school. I remember I had a lot of questions, mostly about the legitimacy, of them before we sent ds. I took a giant list of questions and was satisfied that our school was pretty much like a publi school. Only difference was was that it was better than the public school we could have sent ds too because they had a really unique curriculum, great staff and I was just more on board with their educational philosophy. My local public school was (is?) one of those schools that hadn't been passing the fed. guidelines wrt test scores so they were sacrificing everything (recess, arts, PE...) so they could have more instructional time.

I was bummed that charter schools have to do standradized testing too. Luckily our school realy does not have a culture of high pressure testing and they really believe in that. School is brand new so only open last year but last year they acheived really great test scores so that is promising (even though I don't like tests :)).

Go visit. I can post some q's to ask later. It really was just like a public school but for us it was a better choice.

Beth

[calv]

Ds1 goes to a charter school. I remember I had a lot of questions, mostly about the legitimacy, of them before we sent ds. I took a giant list of questions and was satisfied that our school was pretty much like a publi school. Only difference was was that it was better than the public school we could have sent ds too because they had a really unique curriculum, great staff and I was just more on board with their educational philosophy. My local public school was (is?) one of those schools that hadn't been passing the fed. guidelines wrt test scores so they were sacrificing everything (recess, arts, PE...) so they could have more instructional time.

I was bummed that charter schools have to do standradized testing too. Luckily our school realy does not have a culture of high pressure testing and they really believe in that. School is brand new so only open last year but last year they acheived really great test scores so that is promising (even though I don't like tests :)).

Go visit. I can post some q's to ask later. It really was just like a public school but for us it was a better choice.

Beth


yes Q&A's would be very helpful. Heck DC aren't even in yet but I hear that once one is in, they're guaranteed to be in. Make sense? Also in briefly talking to a soccer dad who's kids attend they said 100% have gone off to college.

[jess_g]

My daughter is in a charter school for middle school and the whole expereince has been great. Her school is grades 4 - 8. The main differences between her school and our towns middle school is that the charter school is much smaller and its run more like an elementary school The kids do not go from class to class for each subject, instead they stay together as a group between 2 teachers and 2 classrooms. This has elimanated what I thought was the hardest part of middle school when I was a kid, wondering where you are supposed to be all the time.

The charter school is publicly funded but its run by a board of directors instead of the local school board. They offer everything including English, math, sicience, history/social studies, french, music, art, computers, and PE. The only downside we have seen is that kids that need extra help don't realy get it and kids with special needs do not get the services they should even if its on their ed plan from their preveous public school. This is why we never even applied her brother to the school even though he could have gotten in as a sibling for 4th grade. He is special needs and gets a lot of services through his ed plan. Now there are some charter schools that do more with kids like my son, some have classes for kids that need extra help. I think it just depends on what the size and focus of the school is.

All this to say that yes charter schools are great schools for the right student. You should realy apply and then if accepted visit the school and talk with them about your child and what kind of school you are looking for for them. My daughters charter school has a long wait list so it is pretty hard to get into, so I would say that applying is the first step.

Jessica.

[egoldber]

In essence, a charter school is a public school run by a private entity. That can run the gamut from for profit companies who run charters all over the country or small ones that are essentially parent run. They often have some sort of organizing philosophy or principle that sets them apart in some way.

Charters can be great or not so great, just like any other school. They are also much more common in some areas than others, depending on the approval process.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Wrt to special ed services, I know our school has a full staff of teachers to provide the mandated services. I haven't btdt though but it seems like the kids that have IEPs are getting the services they need. It'd be something specific to check into at your school since it seems to vary based on pp's experience.

Like I said before, our charter school only opened last year so it was a big gamble to try it. But, we are out of the home district for the school so we knew if it became popular that we wouldn't have a chance during the lottery. First spots are filled by siblings, next people in district then people out of district. I know for our K this year there is a 50+ person wait.

We figured it didn't cost anything to apply so we might as well throw our names onto the list. If it worked out, great, and if not we didn't lose out on much. No cost to attend so if it really was a bad fit we wouldn't lose tuition money. It's not ideal to have to switch schools but it hurts even more when there is $ involved.

The board is one of the things that really reassured me. It is comprised of a few parents (all with professional experience that is an asset), professors in ed. from prestigious universities and other people that really hold my respect and confidence.

These are the q's I asked when I first visited a different charter school. This school had been open several years and had a great reputation.

-when and why was the school created?
-focus of the school?
-who holds the charter?
-how are teachers chosen? are all certified?
-what is teacher turn over like?
-professional development opportunities for teachers?
-has enrollment been steady? How many left last year?
-value of play in education? recess?
-parental involvement possible? PTA?...
-extra curriculars and clubs?
-after school program?
-how do the kids get to school? Is busing provided by their home district?
-safety and discipline?
-general education philosophy?
-technology?
-library?
-flexible, individual approaches for kids?
-foreign language taught? what grade?
-how/ when is reading taught? What is the expectation? [I was looking for the answer that the skills should be in place by end of k and most kids reading by mid-1st year.]
-ask for a copy of the student handbook
-who is on the board? eta- who do you contact with issues? Is there a liason? Can you go to board meetings?
-lunch services- what is provided, how much...?

Beth

[crl]

Here charter schools are public schools that are chartered directly through the state so they do not have to follow the local district's curriculum or rules with regard to staffing, spending etc. The charter school I looked at for DS was run by a parent board. They were able to provide some special education services, but not all. The district here has not designated them as an "inclusion" school so they do not have a pool of aides. They do provide speech/ot/pt--the district provides those services in their school. Their location is a bit precarious because they rent space (I have the impression they have to) from the local school district and the district can thus "make" them move every 5 years--and this is a big city so one year they could be next door and the next they could be an hour away during rush hour traffic.

Catherine

[n2ou]

my dd goes to a charter school this year (last year public which I also liked but due to the budget cuts was nervous about ds upcoming enrollment).

Every charter school is different but here is some insight on ours.

Pro:
not as bound by bureaucracy
full set of specials: Art, Music, PE, Spanish, library, and computer in 1st grade
exciting and motivating environment (e.g. they build a fake jail for the principal and he had to be bailed out with bookbucks - $1 for every 100 pages read - send my dd into a reading frenzy)
small community feeling

Con:
our charter school does not bus (this has not been a problem yet) but I could imagine that situations can change were relying on the bus would have to become an option

[AnnieW625]

Our district has a couple of charter schools. The one we'd be most likely to send Elisa to is run by the district and employs all district employees with educational degrees and teaching credentials. They have a full special ed. program which includes occupational therapists and speech therapists (I know them both personally). There is a PTA as well, and the parents and administration have a say as to where the money goes. IE: our schools are about ready to cut class size reduction programs, and the charter school has 5 or 6 (yes!) classes for each level so if the school wants to spend all of the allocated money to keep class sizes at 20 and fund raise for everything else during the year they can do that.

[SnuggleBuggles]

It's interesting how different they all are! Our charter is funded by a large charter school organization (a company that owns charter schools throughout the country). It seems that we are accountable to the home school district and the state. The school building was leased (bought?) by that big company originally because to start a charter school here you start with no money. The money for the school is paid by the school district the student comes from and the districts pay at different times. I think going forward all expansions and upgrades will be out of our pocket rather than the large corporations but I'm not sure. I know final approval rests with the school board, not the big company. I know there is a written commitment to stay n the current location, which is nice.

Beth

[calv]

these are all very helpful posts and a great place to start. THANKS SO MUCH! Need to take it all in, show/talk DH and see if/where the waiting/acceptance process goes. Keep em' coming ladies. As always, thanks for your help

[saschalicks]

DS1 goes to a Charter that is based on Constructivsm teaching method. It is funded by the state (partially due to major budget cuts) and largely by donations. The thing w/Charters is they don't have to teach the district curriculum. They teach on a curriculum they assiociate with. For example there are Waldorf charter schools. Part of the reason Charters are becoming so popular is b/c many families don't agree with the curriculum and method of teaching for their families, so they try to find a place that works w/their particular lifestyle.

The reason we chose this charter is b/c our school district is AWFUL!!! I hate saying it, but it's absolutely not the place we wanted to send our child unless we lived in a more affluent neighborhood we couldn't afford to live in. This Charter (Constructivism) teaching method is exactly what we wanted for our children, and loved the staff and their curriculum. The school also puts a lot of emphasis on ecology, which a cause that is very near and dear to our family.

Another thing to consider is that charters accept students based on a lottery (at least that's the way they do it here). The state won't give funding unless their selection method is not merit or financial based. They have to accept and admit all economic and socio backgrounds. For us we had to submit an application and then we got assigned a random number. If your number got called you were in. We were VERY lucky to have our number called. The school is amazing and in the 2 mo that DS1 has been there we have been nothing but super happy w/the school.

HTH!