New charter vs. established public? (out of state)

[Anonymous]

We moved out of state several months ago and our kids attend public school. They seem to really enjoy it, test scores for the school are really good... the only negative is that it really lacks a sense of community compared to our old school in VA (which we loved). Schools here are year round and each school operates several schedules so there are four groups of students rotating on different schedules throughout the year. That may not be why but I feel like it's at least part of the reason.

A charter school is opening up next August and we've applied for both of our kids (2nd and 1st currently). There are several great established charter schools in our county but with this one being brand new, I'm wondering what hiccups there could be that I'm not thinking of. We've attended several meetings and everything SOUNDS fantastic. Plus, it's the same distance from our house as our current ES. Our 2nd grade DD has ADHD and anxiety (although well-managed right now) but I feel like the project-based learning and the creativity given to the teachers would be a huge help for her. Our 1st grader would do well academically in either setting, I believe.

What am I missing here? It seems like a great opportunity to join something from the ground up and become part of this new community. I'm just not familiar with charters in general so I'd appreciate any input from someone who has been there/done that.

[Anonymous]

Anyone? ?

[Anonymous]

Well, they vary state by state and school by school. Some are fabulous. Some are terrible. A lot of them are somewhere in between, and not every school is a good fit for every child.

All that said, I think one thing that can be an issue with a new charter is turnover in both teaching staff and administration. But I'm not sure that isn't an issue everywhere. Another possible issue is resources and things like transportation. Again, this depends on the school and the system.