Charter Schools

What is a charter school?

A charter school is a tuition-free public school operated by an independent board of directors that may be composed of parents, teachers, and community members. A charter school is a school of choice within the school district, operating under a contract or "charter" between the board of the charter school community and the DCSD Board of Education.

Learn how charter schools get authorized

How do I enroll my child in a charter school?

CHARTER ENROLLMENT KINDERGARTEN AND UP

Please note: If you are enrolling for Kindergarten, enrollment is subject to age eligibility, which requires the student to be 5 years old on or before October 1 of the year of enrollment. (School Board Policy: Board File JEB).

The following Charter Schools participate in the DCSD Open Enrollment process and do not maintain their own waitlist.

Parents must apply through the online system to attend. Get more information on the Open Enrollment process and timeline.

Aspen View Academy
Ben Franklin Academy
Challenge to Excellence
Douglas County Montessori
Leman Academy Stroh Ranch
Leman Academy Bayou Gulch
Parker Performing Arts
SkyView Academy
STEM School
World Compass Academy

These Charter Schools have their own enrollment systems. For more information, please contact them directly:

Charter Enrollment into PreK

The following Charter Schools offer a PreK program. Please reach out to each school directly for specific details regarding their enrollment process:

Enrollment of Students with Special Needs in Charters

There is a lot of misinformation about charter schools and their ability to serve students with special needs, including whether charter schools automatically exclude students with special needs. This is not the case.

As public schools, charter schools are required to serve students with special needs, just like any neighborhood public school. However, as with any other neighborhood public school, the charter school must be able to accommodate the student with special needs in order to provide an educational environment that will enable the student to thrive and be successful. It is important to remember that the needs of the student are paramount in selecting the school best suited to meet those needs.

Most charters in Douglas County run a lottery late in the year to randomly pull names from their wait lists for enrollment for the following year. These wait lists may contain the names of students with special needs, who should be given the same opportunities to enroll in the charter school, whenever the student’s needs can be met within the current framework of the charter school.

When the name of a student with special needs is pulled in the charter lottery (After your student is admitted), the charter school is legally required to ensure that it can provide the student with a Free and Appropriate Public Education (“FAPE”) with reasonable modifications. The appropriate school team will meet with the parent and the team from the student’s current school, if any, along with a District representative to determine if FAPE is available to the student at the charter school prior to final admittance to the charter school. This meeting is required by federal law to ensure that the student’s needs can be met in that setting.

In order to ensure that the student’s needs can be met at the charter school, an IEP team meeting will take place. If the team determines that FAPE can be provided at the charter school, the student will be enrolled at the charter school and the team will ensure that reasonable modifications are available to allow the student to be successful.

For more information, contact the Student Support Services department.