Here's what you need to know about charter schools in the Appleton area
Families looking for diverse, specialized education options for their students — whether in the arts, engineering or virtual learning — have almost 20 options at public charter schools in the Fox Valley.
More than a dozen of them are housed in the Appleton Area School District alone. The deadline to apply to be in the lottery for those schools is Feb. 17.
Districts offer tours, information sessions and other ways for families to explore options and determine what’s best for their students. Many of those are going on now in time for the mid-February application deadline.
Here are some things to keep in mind about how public charter schools work and what options are available in Appleton and the surrounding districts.
More:Appleton may get a Hmong charter school in the future, but plans are still in early stages
What is a public charter school?
Public charter schools are voluntary and tuition free. They are each designed to fill a particular educational need for students through specialized curriculum or smaller class sizes, for example. Sometimes they are housed inside other schools in a district, and sometimes they have their own buildings.
Students at charter schools still take state tests required of public school students, and teachers are licensed by the Department of Public Instruction. Having a charter gives a school more flexibility and freedom with its curriculum, and the agency authorizing the charter — which is most often a school board — holds the school accountable to following its charter.
In Wisconsin, there are 239 charter schools, according to the DPI. Appleton is a leader among public school districts in the state, authorizing more charters than any district except Milwaukee Public Schools.
What charter schools are available in the Appleton Area School District?
There are 13 charter schools with options from 4K to 12th grade in the district, each with distinct missions and educational opportunities.
Many of the schools offer niche curriculum such as environmental education, engineering, fine arts or Montessori education.
For elementary students, there are six charter options:
Appleton Bilingual (K-5)
Appleton Public Montessori (4K-6)
Classical School (K-8)
Fox River Academy (K-8)
Wisconsin Connections Academy (4K-12)
For middle and high schoolers, there are 10 options, including the K-8 and K-12 options listed above, as well as these:
Appleton eSchool (7-12)
Appleton Technical Academy (9-12)
Kaleidoscope Academy (6-8)
Valley New School (7-12)
What are the charter school options in other Fox Valley districts?
Appleton has the most offerings by far, but other Fox Valley districts also have charter schools.
The Neenah Joint School District has Alliance Charter School, which offers Montessori education and will expand to 4K and sixth-grade students in the fall.
The Kaukauna Area School District has two 4K through fourth-grade elementary charter school options: New Directions Learning Community and Park Community Charter School.
The Menasha Joint School District offers a virtual charter school, Fox Valley Virtual School, for 4K through eighth-grade students.
The Little Chute Area School District has a charter option for elementary students in Flex Academy and high schoolers in Little Chute Career Pathways Academy.
Reach AnnMarie Hilton at ahilton@gannett.com or 920-370-8045. Follow her on Twitter at @hilton_annmarie.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Applications due mid-February for public charter schools in Appleton
