What is a Charter School?

A Charter School is a public school that is open to all who wish to attend it (i.e. without regard to race, religion, or academic ability), paid for by the public, and accountable to the public authorities for its results. Charter schools are rooted in their local communities; they are related to magnet schools, lab schools and special focus schools. Charter Schools are an opportunity to adapt and innovate on a smaller scale.

The Charter itself is a formal, legal document, viewed as a contract between those that launch a Charter School and the public body that authorizes and monitors it. In our case, the public body is the West Linn-Wilsonville School Board.