There are hundreds of Charter schools distributed in the five NYC districts, and with so many options available, it can be difficult for parents to find the ideal school for their children.
Now there is a new online resource that seeks to facilitate this process. Recently, the NYC Charter school center launched the NYC Charter School Finder, a catalog of the 281 Charter schools in the city located in more than 410 campus.
Parents and students can use the database to search for schools according to different criteria, such as the level of grade, district, neighborhood and community school district.
Key information within reach of families
Representatives of the Charter School Center say that this new resource is “the most complete database of its type” in New York.
“The families of the city have options within public education. With the NYC Charter School Finder, we want that choice to be as easy as possible,” said James Merriman, executive director of Charter School Center.
The directory is designed to simplify the search according to the criteria of each user. Each campus has its own page with contact information, location, degrees offered and school data, including available achievements.
“By putting critical information about the hundreds of public charter schools of the city within the reach of families, we are giving them the power to find the school that best suits their children,” Merriman added. “We are sure that this tool will investigate the unique charter schools in our city is easier and more accessible.”
Charter schools: a growing trend
For the 2024-2025 school year, the Charter schools in NYC serve about 149,000 students in the five districts. According to the Charter School Center, about 15% of students in the city’s public system attend Charter schools.
Although they are free and educators have more freedom to design the curriculum, Charter schools remain responsible to the authorities that authorized them, and can be closed if they do not meet the standards of performance.
Meanwhile, Charter education continues to grow in popularity. In recent years, many new Charter schools have been opened throughout the country. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, registration in Public Charter schools doubled between 2010 and 2021, from 1.8 million to 3.7 million students – a total increase of 1.9 million.
