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Home > Students & Families > RI Public Schools > Charter Schools

Rhode Island's Charter Schools

Rhode Island's charter schools are public schools authorized by the State of Rhode Island to operate independently from many state and local district rules and regulations. Each charter school is able to establish educational strategies that meet the specific student achievement goals and objectives outlined in each school's charter.

Rhode Island General Law 16-77-5.1(b) designates the Council on Elementary and Secondary Education (the Council) as the authorizer for charter schools. In this capacity, the Council is responsible for charter school approval, renewal and revocation. RIDE is delegated with the authority and responsibility to manage a comprehensive system of charter school accountability, review, and monitoring, and system management. With the support of RIDE’s charter team, the Council plays a fundamental role in maintaining and advancing the quality and accountability of the charter sector. Rhode Island is one of only seven states in which the SEA, in conjunction with the State's Board of Education, is the sole authorizer. As the sole authorizer, the Council bears substantial responsibility for balancing the statutory goal of increased autonomy of charter schools against the accountability required by the state and federal authorities.

Types of Rhode Island Charter Schools

District Charter Schools: Schools created by existing public schools, groups of public school personnel, public school districts, or a group of school districts.
Independent Charter Schools: Schools created by: (i) Rhode Island nonprofit organizations provided that these nonprofit organizations shall have existed for at least two (2) years and must exist for a substantial reason other than to operate a school or (ii) Colleges or universities within the State of Rhode Island.
Mayoral Academies: Schools created by a mayor of any city or town within the State of Rhode Island, acting by or through a nonprofit organization (regardless of the time said nonprofit organization is in existence) to establish a mayoral academy.

Attributes of Charter Schools

The charter school differs from the traditional public school in the following ways:

Autonomy: Charter schools are created and governed by independent boards and operated separately from the policies of traditional school districts. In exchange for this autonomy, the state has certain expectations.
Accountability: Charter schools are held accountable for meeting student achievement goals and face charter revocation if they under-perform.
Choice: Charter schools provide choice for parents and students seeking alternatives to public education.
Innovation: Charter schools are expected to be vanguards in improving and expanding opportunities within public education.

List of Charter Schools

The complete list of charter schools, grades served, their locations and enrolling communities are listed below. To access a school's web site, please click the school name below.

Printable List of Charter Schools in Rhode Island. This document provides information in a single, printable page for all charter schools, links to each web-page, grade levels served, communities served and charter type

Name	Grades (Fall 2019)	Grades (Authorized)	Location	Enrolling Communities
Academy for Career Exploration	9-12	9-12	155 Harrison Street Providence, RI	Providence
Achievement First Providence Mayoral Academy Elementary	K-4	K-4	370 Hartford Avenue Providence, RI	Cranston, North Providence, Providence, Warwick
Achievement First Providence Mayoral Academy Middle	5-7	5-8	370 Hartford Avenue Providence, RI	Cranston, North Providence, Providence, Warwick
Achievement First Iluminar Mayoral Academy Elementary	K-4	K-4	85 Garfield Avenue Cranston, RI	Cranston, North Providence, Providence, Warwick
Achievement First Iluminar Mayoral Academy M iddle	5	5-8	85 Garfield Avenue Cranston, RI	Cranston, North Providence, Providence, Warwick
Beacon Charter School	9-12	9-12	320 Main Street Woonsocket, RI	Statewide
Beacon Founder's Academy	6-8	6-8	1 Social Street Woonsocket, RI	Statewide
Blackstone Academy Charter School	9-12	9-12	334 Pleasant Street Pawtucket, RI	Central Falls, Pawtucket, Providence
Blackstone Valley Prep Mayoral Academy - ES1	K-4	K-4	291 Broad Street Cumberland, RI	Central Falls, Cumberland, Lincoln, Pawtucket
Blackstone Valley Prep Mayoral Academy - ES2	K-4	K-4	52 Broad Street Cumberland, RI	Central Falls, Cumberland, Lincoln, Pawtucket
Blackstone Valley Prep Mayoral Academy - ES3	K-4	K-4	3357 Mendon Road Cumberland, RI	Central Falls, Cumberland, Lincoln, Pawtucket
Blackstone Valley Prep Mayoral Academy - MS1	5-8	5-8	909 Lonsdale Avenue Central Falls, RI	Central Falls, Cumberland, Lincoln, Pawtucket
Blackstone Valley Prep Mayoral Academy - MS2	5-8	5-8	3 Fairlawn Way Lincoln, RI	Central Falls, Cumberland, Lincoln, Pawtucket
Blackstone Valley Prep Mayoral Academy - HS	9-12	9-12	65 Macondray Street Cumberland, RI	Central Falls, Cumberland, Lincoln, Pawtucket
Charette High School	9-11	9-12	335 Westminster St Providence, RI	Providence
Highlander Charter School	PK-12	PK-12	Upper School (Grades 7-12) 360 Market Street Warren, RI Lower School (Grades PK-6) 42 Lexington Avenue Providence, RI	Statewide
Hope Academy	K-5	K-8	1000 Eddy Street Providence, RI	Providence, North Providence
International Charter School	K-5	K-8	334 Pleasant Street Pawtucket, RI	Statewide
Kingston Hill Academy	K-5	K-5	850 Stony Fort Road Saunderstown, RI	Statewide
NEL/CPS Construction & Career Academy	9-12	9-12	4 Sharpe Drive Cranston, RI	Statewide
Paul Cuffee Charter School	K-12	K-12	Upper School (Grades 9-12) 544 Elmwood Avenue Providence, RI Middle School (Grades 6-8) 30 Barton Street Providence, RI Lower School (Grades K-5) 459 Promenade Street Providence, RI	Providence
RI Nurses Institute Middle College Charter School	9-12	9-12	150 Washington Street Providence, RI	Statewide
RISE Prep Mayoral Academy	K-4	K-8	30 Cumberland Street Woonsocket, RI	Burrillville, North Smithfield, Woonsocket
Segue Institute for Learning	4-8	3-8	325 Cowden Street Central Falls, RI	Central Falls
Sheila C. "Skip" Nowell Leadership Academy - Central Campus	9-12	9-12	43 Hawes Street Central Falls, RI	Statewide
Sheila C. "Skip" Nowell Leadership Academy - Capital Campus	9-12	9-12	133 Delaine Street Providence, RI	Statewide
SouthSide Elementary Charter School	K-5	K-5	135 Prairie Avenue Providence, RI	Providence
The Compass School	K-8	K-8	537 Old North Road Kingston, RI	Statewide
The Greene School	9-12	9-12	94 John Potter Road West Greenwich, RI	Statewide
The Learning Community	K-8	K-8	21 Lincoln Avenue Central Falls, RI	Central Falls, Pawtucket, Providence
Times2 Academy	K-12	K-12	Middle/High School (Grades 7-12) 50 Fillmore Street Providence, RI Elementary School (Grades K-6) 50 Fillmore Street Providence, RI	Providence
Trinity Academy for the Performing Arts	7-12	7-12	150 Washington Street Providence, RI	Providence
Village Green Virtual Charter School	9-12	9-12	135 Weybosset Street Providence, RI	Statewide

Charter School Resources and Lottery

Resources for Families and Community

2020-21 RI Charter School Application: English | Español | Português

All charter school lotteries will be held on either March 2, 2020 or April 1, 2020. An application must be submitted to each individual school the student is interested in. Please contact RIDE or check with the school for application deadlines and lottery dates.
The applications above are editable Microsoft Word documents. To complete an application, please write in the school name in the form and return to the school to which your student is applying.
For more information on charter schools, grades and communities served, please see the list of charter schools on this page.

State of Rhode Island's Charter Public Schools: a report providing data and descriptive information on charter public schools across Rhode Island. - April 2014 [PDF]

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Resources for Charter School Administrators

Governance Handbook: Update COMING SOON
Lottery and Enrollment Guidance

For School Use: 2019-20 RIDE Issued Charter School Application Templates:

When more students apply to a charter school than there are seats available, the school must conduct a random lottery to determine enrollment. Charter school lotteries should be scheduled for March 2, 2020 (Monday) or April 1, 2020 (Wednesday). Notify RIDE of your school's lottery date and application deadline.
Charter school names and contact information should be pasted into the top of the template. Remove the “optional” placeholder language, highlighted yellow, unless the school has a RIDE-approved optional question.

Updates & Announcements

2018 CSP Startup Grant Application Available
Coming Soon: 2019 CSP Grant Application

Charter School Accountability

In addition to being classified just as any other Rhode Island public school, Charter schools are reviewed and held accountable for meeting student academic and organizational performance goals and face charter revocation or non renewal if they under-perform. If successful, each charter may be granted a term for up to 5 years.

Please review the Charter School Performance Review System Handbook for more detail on the charter performance indicators and information about the renewal process.

Charter schools in Rhode Island are held to common measures of academic, financial and organizational performance. Specifically:

Student Academic Performance
Financial Performance
Organizational Performance
Legal, Regulatory and Charter Contract Compliance

The handbook has been updated to reflect the revised Statewide Accountability System in alignment with the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

Each year beginning with the 2016-17 school year, RIDE will compile an annual Charter School Performance Dashboard, for each charter school, based on the indicators above. The report template can be found here.

Starting or Expanding Charter Schools

Starting or Expanding a Charter School

Requests for Proposals for New Student Seats

The 2020 RFP for new student seats will be posted to this page once available.

RIDE will prioritize proposals that focus on increasing the number of high-quality education options for students who would have otherwise attended a school identified as in need of Comprehensive Support and School Improvement and for educationally disadvantaged students: economically-disadvantaged students, students with disabilities, and/or English learners.

The deadline for submission for proposals in 2020 is TBD and a timetable will be posted on this page once the 2020 RFP is available.

Technical Assistance

RIDE will host technical assistance sessions throughout the spring of 2020 for applicant teams submitting proposals in 2020. Any party that has specific questions, interest in future proposal opportunities, or questions about the process should e-mail RICharters@ride.ri.gov.

Charter School Program Grant Startup Information

An updated CSP application will be available for new seat applicants indicate an intent to apply through the new seat RFP process. The 2018 CSP Startup Grant Application is available as a reference document only.

Charter School Proposals Under Review and Public Hearings

Requests for Proposals for New Charter Seats and Public Comment

The 2019 Request for Proposals process is now closed. The RIDE Charter School Office will post a notification in 2020, when any new proposals are available. The public comment process will remain the same.

Written Public Comment – Written comments may be submitted via mail to 255 Westminster Street Providence, RI 02903 Attn: Charter School Office e-mail to RICharters@ride.ri.gov, or to RIDE staff at scheduled public hearings.

Public Comment Hearings – RIDE will conduct at least two (2) public hearings to be held in the community where each proposed charter school is to be located. The schedule for public hearings can be found listed below. In the event that translation services are needed, please e-mail RICharters@ride.ri.gov, at least 7 days prior to the public hearing date so appropriate accommodations can be made.

Local Impact Analyses – Any applicant, school district, elected official, government entity, or research institution (including, but not limited to post-secondary institutions) may provide a written local impact analysis statement directly to RIDE. This local impact analysis statement may choose to comment on a proposal’s: a) fiscal impact on a city or town; b) programmatic impact on the sending school district; and/or, c) the educational impact on the students in the district. RIDE and all received local impact analyses are publicly posted on this webpage. The public may choose to review and incorporate these local impact analyses into public comments provided in written format to RIDE or via the scheduled public hearings.