School-Aged Children

Anyone send their child to a Charter School?

There is one local to us that I was thinking of checking out.  Do you love it?  Did you hate it?  What's it like?  How is it different from regular public school? Sorry, lots of questions

Re: Anyone send their child to a Charter School?

  • We did a local charter school for three years with older DS from grades 3-5.  I don't know how they work in your state but in NC they get the money per pupil for education but get no support for buildings, transportation, etc.

    They had a strong emphasis on learning the basics to where it was second nature - math facts and increasing their speed at reading while still comprehending.  For lack of other description they were very orderly in everything they did.  Very few discipline problems. The school environment was overall very good.   

    I thought the academic program was doing a a lot of good for DS until he went back to traditional public school in 6th grade and he struggled in subjects that I thought he was doing well with.

    The school was basically in the woods - they had buildings with 4 classrooms that all opened to the outside and each set of two classrooms had bathrooms to share.  They did not have a library, cafeteria, gym, etc.  Because there were not halls or large common areas DS did not catch anything in 3 years at the school.  He had always caught bugs from other kids in the early years of school and has since leaving.  Since there was no cafeteria you had to send lunch with your child and also provide your own transportation.  They did have before and after-school care on-site for a fee.

     In summary, I will not send LO to this charter school.  While they did have some good points I was not happy with the education my DS received in preparing him for the next level of school.

    But charter schools have more freedom in instructional methods than a traditional public school.  If you find one that is a good match for your child's learning style I think they could be an excellent option.

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  • Well in my area most the charter schools are a b school or less. My child is in public school(which is an a+ school) I refuse to let my child take any form of public transportation after they dropped her off miles from her stop when she was in kindergarten, so the lack of after school transport did not bother me. The kids were uppity as well as the teachers (which neither had enough knowledge to act in such manner) My friend had her son in a charter school, and he is now attending my daughters public school. She wasn't a fan either. But to each there own I guess.   
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  • Charter schools here are pretty decent.  I was told long before we had children, by many sources, that if you live in this district, you need to get your child either in private schools or the charter schools because the public are so bad.  Mine is in public pre-K right now (they don't have pre-k in the charter schools) and we are considering trying to get him into a charter school for K.  We will see though.  I am less concerned about elementary school, but he will HAVE to go for middle and high school.  You have to provide your own transportation.  As far as I know, ours have cafeterias, sports programs, ect.  The big thing is parent involvement.  You are required to volunteer at the school X amount of time each semester.  Most require some type of uniform/strict dress code (that's fine with me).  I do know, in comparing reports, that the charter schools *grade* is way better than the public schools here.
    Adrian 7.6.07 - ADHD, Disruptive Behavior Disorder, Learning Disability-NOS
    Cam 6.6.10 - Autism, Global Developmental Delay, Mixed Receptive/Expressive Communication Disorder
  • We don't go to a charter school but I have a few friends at a Spanish Immersion Charter school and they love it.  I have only heard very positive things.  I think it will really vary though based on the school.  I would ask for for referneces from current and past families of any charter school you look at.
    Jenni Mom to DD#1 - 6-16-06 DD#2 - 3-13-08 
  • I would love for my DD to go to our local charter school.  It has an incredible curriculum and awesome teachers.  There is a lottery to attend and on average 200+ children apply every year to fill about 10 slots.  We will definitely applying and crossing our fingers!  Every charter school is different- they have their own philosophies and strengths/weaknesses so you need to do your research before deciding whether it will be a good fit for your child.
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  • Thanks for all of the input everyone!

    Since writing this post I have done a lot of research and have gone to check out the charter school I was interested in. 

    Overall it seems like a great school.  It has existed since 1998, started as a K- 8 and now has a High School as well.  They recently put on a HUGE addition including a gymasium, lunch room/auditorium and will soon have a library.  Academically state wide it seems like it is on par if not above the local public schools.  The older part of the school could definitely use some updating but it is sufficient.  I have entered my child into the lottery and we will see what happens.

    It does provide transporation but I don't need to worry about that.  They do have a before and after school program which is important since I work full time.

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