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Open-Enrollment Charter School Application

What is a charter school?

Charter schools are innovative public schools providing choices for families and students while holding the leadership to greater accountability for positive results. Charter schools are open-enrollment which means they cannot charge tuition to the students attending and they can not discriminate regarding who attends. These institutions open the door to education for many children who would otherwise be left behind and as a result, tend to have high at-risk populations.

The procedure for applying for a charter school differs from state to state. Essential Support Services, Inc. has had the opportunity to write charters in several states, but its primary experience is in the state of Texas. President and Founder, Ms. Carol Thorne has been involved in the charter school movement in Texas since the beginning in 1996 (Read more about Ms. Thorne at History of ESS). ESS has written approximately 30 charter applications in Texas with a 90% success rate.

In order to write a charter application, competencies in the following areas are essential:

  • Can you justify a need for the proposed school?
  • Do you understand Board leadership?
  • Can you set educational goals and objectives?
  • Can you describe roles and responsibilities?
  • How do you define the appropriate educational plan to distinguish it from traditional schools?
  • Can you create and implement Policies and Procedures?
    • Board
    • Administrative
  • Can you create budgets utilizing the required 15-digit accounting codes?
  • Can you describe special needs programs required by law?
  • How do you develop a business plan?
  • Can you gather and organize additional required information for submission?

To view the application for an Open Enrollment Charter School, Tenth Generation, Texas, please download the following file: Gen10app.doc

Applying for a charter school in Texas is labor intensive and challenging and many excellent organizations are dissuaded from applying after reviewing the application criteria. ESS staff can assist you in your endeavor to serve children by developing your Open Enrollment Charter School application. ESS will guide you in selecting your educational model, provide deadlines and assistance to complete key events necessary to apply, and will write the application utilizing staff members expertise and past knowledge of the sequence of events. If your organization is selected to be interviewed by the Planning Committee of the State Board of Education (the final step before a contract is awarded), ESS will prepare you for the interview to ensure the highest possibility of success.

Let ESS deal with the red tape and allow you to focus on your primary concern... educating children!