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Fostering high-quality educational opportunities, fair and equitable treatment, and improved outcomes for students and families in Philadelphia through rigorous charter school evaluations, effective oversight, and meaningful supports.
The Charter Schools Office supports The School District of Philadelphia’s Board of Education in its role as an authorizer of brick and mortar charter schools operating in Philadelphia.
Click here to learn more about The School District of Philadelphia’s Board of Education.
VISION – All students have equitable access to a system of high quality public schools that challenge them academically, support their well-being, and prepare them for success.
MISSION – The Charter Schools Office fosters high quality educational opportunities, fair and equitable treatment, and improved outcomes for students and families in Philadelphia through rigorous charter school evaluations, effective oversight, and meaningful support.
VALUES – Student-Centered • Accountability • Equity • Transparency • Community
Accountability
Improving the School District’s capacity to establish and maintain high standards for its charter schools by measuring charter performance against clear standards and implementing consequences when standards are not met.
Autonomy
Preserving charter school independence by focusing on accountability for student outcomes rather than methods, as it relates to curriculum, hiring, and other areas.
Equity
Protecting the right of students and families to equal access and fair treatment in Philadelphia’s charter schools.
In many ways, charter schools are like district-operated schools:
Each charter school must also fulfill the terms of its original charter application and its charter agreement.
But charter schools do not have to follow certain District policies, including:
Through this initiative, there are several options to transform neighborhood schools with long-term academic and climate challenges. Renaissance Charter Schools are those that are transformed under the leadership of an experienced charter school operator while operating under the Charter School Law.
The Renaissance Initiative began in 2010 with seven (7) schools. To date, there are 17 Renaissance Charter Schools.
A Renaissance Charter School is a neighborhood school that is operated as a public charter school and can only enroll students from the neighborhood, also known as a catchment zone.
The School District has a School Finder tool where families can look up their neighborhood schools. If your address falls within the catchment zone of a Renaissance Charter School, the School Finder tool will indicate this and provide the address of the school. As of 2024-25, there are 17 Renaissance Charter Schools.
Every year, eligible students throughout Philadelphia are able to participate in the application process for all charter schools.
While charter schools are allowed to select their own application deadline, most deadlines typically take place in the months of January, February, or March.
If the deadline has passed and you are interested in enrolling in a charter school:
Every child of school age who is a resident of a Pennsylvania school district is entitled to a public school education.
The following DO NOT affect a student’s eligibility to attend a charter school:
If a charter school receives more applications than there are spots available in a certain grade, a lottery is held to determine who is accepted and who is placed on a waiting list.
Lotteries randomly select students for enrollment, with the following POSSIBLE exceptions listed below (varies by school), according to their charter terms and enrollment policy:
If a child is selected for a spot in the charter school, the school will contact the family after the lottery.
NOTE: Selection in the lottery does not result in automatic enrollment, as additional information must be completed and submitted to secure a student’s seat.
If a child was not selected for enrollment, they will be placed on that school’s waitlist. If and when seats become available, waiting families will be notified by the school.
Charter schools have what we refer to as a “cap”. This term simply refers to the maximum number of students a school is able to serve. Once a school reaches this number they will be at full capacity and are unable to enroll more students.
Although the enrollment period may end with most charter schools filling all available seats, some charter schools may still have open seats for the upcoming school year.
Please note, open seat availability is typically updated every August, closer to the new school year.
All students who are accepted, by application, lottery or waitlist, must submit the documents listed below by the school’s established deadline (upon receiving notice that a seat is available for your child). At that time, your child will be officially enrolled in the charter school.
As a part of the District’s efforts to maintain a safe environment for students, schools may request the following:
Schools may request any of the following supporting documents as part of their enrollment process. Please note, although they may request it, they cannot require it prior to enrollment, and your child’s enrollment cannot be delayed if you have not provided it. The school may follow up with the parent/guardian for this information after the child has been enrolled in the school.
To enroll a child/student, the guardian is required to provide any one of the following documents:
1] Proof of child’s age (the following list includes examples, but is not exhaustive):
2] Immunization record (one of the following is required):
Please note: If a student has just started a series of shots/immunizations, she or he may still be enrolled. The student must be in the process and keeping up with the timeline of the series (for example, the student just got shot one and he/she will get shot two within thirty days of shot one). Please click here for more information regarding the School District of Philadelphia’s vaccine requirements.
3] Proof of residency (one of the following is required)
4] Parent registration statement
A sworn statement or affirmation describing any suspensions or expulsionsfor offenses involving drugs, alcohol, weapons, infliction of injury or violence, including conviction or delinquent adjudication related to sexual assault on school property, must be provided for a student to be admitted to any school entity.
5] Home language survey
All students enrolling in a school for the first time will be given a home language survey, as required by the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. A student’s enrollment cannot be delayed in order to administer the Home Language Survey.
Resource:
Printable PDF list detailing enrollment requirements
For application questions, visit the APC website or call APC’s Helpline at 1-800-891-3999.
The annual deadline for submitting all applications and supporting materials to the Charter Schools Office (CSO) is November 15.
NOTE: The information on this page pertains to the application process to open a new charter school in Philadelphia. If you are seeking more information on how to apply for admission into a charter school for a student, please visit our How to Apply & Enroll page.
The CSO updates New Charter Application materials each academic year. Applicant teams seeking to open a new charter school in Philadelphia are encouraged to review both the Charter School Law and prior year’s application guidance and evaluation reports for submitted New Charter Applications prior to submitting a New Charter Application. Please note: The CSO does not review or provide feedback on draft applications. Once an application is submitted by the due date, it is considered final and will be reviewed as submitted.
The CSO hosted informational webinars for potential applicants in September and October. If you have any questions regarding the information sessions, email charterapplications@philasd.org.
The slide presentation for the current cycle is available here.
Click here to view a table showing applications and evaluations from the current cycle
The Charter Schools Office (CSO), on behalf of the Board of Education (Board), conducts a comprehensive review of each charter school seeking renewal, and then presents a formal evaluation and renewal report (ACE-R) to the Board.
The comprehensive review are based on the Charter School Performance Framework and consider evidence of outcomes-based performance during the current charter term. The Charter School Performance Framework incorporates three domains:
This same Framework guides the CSO’s ongoing monitoring, evaluation, and assessment work. Philadelphia brick-and-mortar charter schools receive an annual evaluation of its performance against this Framework in the Annual Charter Evaluation.
The Charter School Law primarily allows for renewal of a charter for a period of five years. In limited circumstances, charter schools in Philadelphia may be renewed for one year to allow for evaluation of additional academic performance information.
Business rules for academic calculations align with the District Performance Office’s business rules (viewed here).
During the life cycle of a charter school, the school’s board may need to amend the school charter to reflect changes in operations, educational programming, location, or enrollment since the school’s founding.
Charter amendments may reflect nonmaterial (minor) or material (significant) changes. Ideally, material charter amendments are planned in advance and submitted with the charter school’s renewal application. However, there are occasions in which the school may have reason to request a material amendment during the charter term.
Overview
The Pennsylvania Charter School Law does not provide for amendments to charters, and thus the Board of Education of the School District of Philadelphia is not required to act on amendment requests from charter schools. However, through the Administrative Procedures for Policy 401, the Board has tasked the Charter Schools Office with reviewing material amendment requests made by charter schools.
Material amendments to a school’s charter may include the following:
*Charter Schools that are not Renaissance Charter Schools that are seeking a name change should contact the CSO for guidance about the process and documents to submit, since the name change would not be a material amendment.
Timeline
Any requests submitted during a school’s charter term must adhere to Policy 401 and its accompanying Administrative Procedures. A charter school may submit a material amendment request during its renewal year (the last year of its charter term) or mid-term (prior to the final year of its charter term) if eligibility requirements are met.
Renewal Amendment Requests: Renewal Material Charter Amendment requests must be submitted with required documents by October 15 of the renewal year. The CSO may request revised or supplemental documentation during the evaluation process.
Mid-Term Amendment Requests: If eligibility requirements are met, Mid-Term Material Charter Amendment requests must be submitted with required documents by January 15 of the school year prior to the effective date of the proposed charter amendment. The CSO may request revised or supplemental documentation during the evaluation process.
In the event of an unforeseen emergency requiring an immediate change in a charter school facility or location, the charter school shall submit a Mid-Term Material Charter Amendment request within a reasonable period of time, and the amendment request may be approved by the Board as a ratification of the change in facility or location.
Process
Submission: Charter schools should use the amendment guidelines, which are updated annually by the Charter Schools Office, to complete an amendment request. Schools should follow these steps:
Processing: When the CSO receives a request from a charter school to amend its charter, the CSO first reviews the request as submitted. After the initial review of a charter amendment request, the CSO may request additional documentation from the charter school to conduct a more comprehensive evaluation of the charter amendment request. The CSO will evaluate the amendment request if it meets the eligibility requirements outlined in Administrative Procedures of Policy 401.
Review: Once the CSO has received requested supporting documentation from the charter school, the CSO will evaluate the request and share its evaluation report (which includes a recommendation) with the Board. During this evaluation period, the CSO, at its discretion, may ask clarifying questions of the charter school and request supplemental documentation.
Consideration at Board’s Discretion: The Board may consider a Material Charter Amendment request at a public meeting of the Board at its discretion. Any decision by the Board on an amendment request shall not be an adjudication and cannot be appealed to the State Charter School Appeal Board, any administrative agency, or any court. Failure of the Board to act on an amendment request shall not be deemed grant of or a deemed denial of the amendment request.
Click here to view a table showing applications and evaluations from the current cycle.
The initiative, which developed standards for both new and existing charters, is guided by three principles:
As part of the AQI, the Charter Schools Office (CSO) created the Charter School Performance Framework, which provides the basis for Annual Charter Evaluations and Renewal Recommendation Reports (ACE-R).
In 2018, the CSO released an updated Charter School Performance Framework, based on charter sector feedback, research, and national standards for charter authorizing. Since 2018, minor updates have been made related to data availability changes or changes in law and regulation, after being shared with the sector for feedback.
Annual Charter Evaluations (ACE) were developed in 2016 to provide interim school evaluations for years between initial charter approval and first charter renewal as well as between charter renewals thereafter. These reports are produced annually by the CSO for all charter schools (except those up for renewal that receive a Renewal Recommendation Report) and provide information on the three main areas of the Charter School Performance Framework: academic success, organizational compliance and viability, and financial health and sustainability. The ACE also provides student-subgroup information to assess a charter school’s academic performance by grade level, gender, race/ethnicity, and historically underserved categories.
The Charter Schools Office (CSO) may issue Notices of Concern and Deficiency to schools regarding significant instances of non-compliance or poor performance that may affect student well-being or access. Notices of Deficiency clarify actions schools must take in order to resolve the deficiency.
Business rules for academic calculations align with the District Performance Office’s business rules (viewed here).
Schools have multiple opportunities during the ACE engagement cycle to view their ACE or ACE-R report findings, provide the CSO with feedback, receive feedback, and have ratings updated prior to final reports being published. These opportunities are called preview windows. More information about the preview window process can be accessed below.
Financial audits are produced annually by independent auditors for all charter schools in Pennsylvania. All charter schools are required to have an independent financial audit completed every year.
Charter school fiscal years (FY) span from July 1 to June 30th. For example, FY23 is July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023.