Charter School vs. Private School vs. Traditional School District. What’s the Difference?

Charter School vs. Private School vs. Traditional School District. What’s the Difference? -Ms. Danielle Fields, Executive Director

As we begin the 2021-22 school year, we thought this would be the perfect time to tell our story. The story of who we are! Our MELA family has worked intentionally to achieve many accomplishments since we began in 2015. Our students and staff have worked hard to achieve their success. During the most challenging year our nation has faced, we closed our students’ literacy achievement gap by 19% as measured by Running Records and DRAs. 

This academic year marks the  30th anniversary of the charter school movement. Did you know that Minnesota was the first state in the nation to have charter schools? Read more about it here.

What is a Charter School?
So what is a charter school, anyway? Since the definition differs from state to state, it can be a little confusing. This video does a great job explaining school choice options in MN: Your school choice guide in Minnesota

Why Choose a Charter School?
Enrolling your child in a public charter school is giving them the best of both worlds plus a little more. 

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Like many private schools, our charter school: 

1. Requires uniforms. 
2. Allows families to apply at any time. 
3. Has limited spaces. 
4. Is not bound by a neighborhood or district.  
5. Has a smaller student population.

Like a traditional public school district, charter schools: 

1. Are free to attend. 
2. Have teachers licensed by the State of MN.  
3. Have to follow educational law and policy as established by the state and federal government. 
4. Are funded by the state. 
5. Are accountable for student achievement under federal law. 

​What’s unique about a charter school?: 

1. Charter schools are independent districts. We have the flexibility to design a curriculum and environment that is responsive to meeting student needs. 
2. According to MDE, charter schools “offer a unique educational program for students and families seeking an alternative to traditional public schools.”
3. Charter schools have an additional layer of accountability to a state-approved authorizer.
4. Charter Schools are Mission Driven. Learn More about our mission here: https://www.melaschool.org/ 
5. The school board is governed by parents, teachers, and the community. Learn more about our school board here: https://www.melaschool.org/board.html

We Gauge Our Success on Student Success
During the COVID-19 pandemic, media has highlighted learning loss for students across the nation. One of our favorite aspects of being a charter school is the ability to create a responsive learning environment. MELA created a personalized curriculum for all of our students by utilizing research-based, culturally responsive, trauma-informed, and data-driven instructional strategies. We emphasize responsive, small group, and 1:1 literacy instruction. These efforts paid off. The results of 20-21 represent the hard work of our staff and students:

• 97.5% of  MELA PreK students knew 15/15 letters as indicated by TS Gold PreK Standards. 60% of our students were able to identify 26/26 letters of the alphabet.

 

• 80% of all students in grades K-6 achieved developmental growth expectations in reading.

We are proud to share last year’s academic success. We hope the pandemic brings fewer curveballs, but we are ready for them if they come. This school year, we are excited to continue with this approach to literacy. Since it worked so well, we are applying the same method to mathematics instruction. 

Check back each Friday to learn more about what makes MELA so special. How is MELA different from other charter schools? Read our next post to discover why we value equity, personalized learning, and fun! 

References: 
Author Unknown. “Minnesota's Charter School Story”,
https://www.mncharterschools.org/advocacy/mn-charter-school-story.php.

Dickler, Jessica. “Virtual school resulted in ‘significant’ academic learning loss, study finds.” Personal Finance, CNBC, March 30 2021, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/30/learning-loss-from-virtual-school-due-to-covid-is-significant-html.

Minnesota Department of Education. “Charter Schools.”https://education.mn.gov/mde/dse/chart.

School Choice Week. “Your school choice guide in Minnesota.” YouTube, Dec 8, 2020,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KHePstqXx8.

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