A charter school is a publicly funded school created through a contract or 'charter' and must show greater accountability for results. Charter schools provide innovative ways of educating children within the public school system and are free and open to all students.

Charter schools differ from traditional public schools in that they receive some regulatory freedom and autonomy in exchange for having their charters reviewed by an authorizer, in this case Tulsa Public Schools. Charter schools still participate in state testing and federal accountability programs. The charter school's operation, organization, management and curriculum are unique and different from those of Tulsa Public Schools.

Interested families must apply for enrollment by completing the charter school's application.

The term “partnership school” refers to a variety of autonomy-rich school models—whether they are innovative schools of the future or well-established models already within the TPS network. They embody the expectations and strategies described by the district within its new strategic plan, Destination Excellence, and the district’s theory of change.

What are the characteristics of partnership schools?

Though the characteristics of each school will differ, partnership schools must provide exceptional education to students and commit to higher levels of accountability in exchange for increased autonomy. They are TPS schools that may operate as a stand-alone site or share a school building with a traditional TPS school. A partnership school could have teachers employed by TPS, and therefore members of the TPS bargaining unit; or teachers could be employed by an outside organization. Partnership schools complement the TPS-authorized charter schools as well as the traditional schools of the district, which also have growing opportunities for autonomies and flexibilities to more effectively serve their communities and students’ needs.

Partnership schools are—and will be—unique by virtue of their design and autonomies, but all will embrace broad stakeholder engagement. Their work will bring transformational change to the entire district by identifying, sharing and facilitating the implementation of innovative and best-in-class policies and practices.

2015-2016 CHARTER PERFORMANCE SUMMARIES
(updated summaries coming soon)

Public Charter schools are free, public schools that are open to all students. There is no tuition admissions test to gain entry into a charter school, and all students (including those qualifying for free or reduced lunch, special education, gifted and talented, or English language services) are welcome to attend. All Tulsa Public Schools-sponsored public charter schools proudly serve students within these classifications, are committed to actively recruiting and educating underserved students, and work to remove barriers to student entry and retention.

In collaboration with its public charter schools, Tulsa Public Schools developed a comprehensive performance framework to ensure that every Tulsa Public Schools-authorized charter school meets high standards of quality and performance. The performance framework defines the academic, financial and organizational standards by which Tulsa Public Schools-authorized charter schools will be evaluated.

Just as teachers do in their classrooms, Tulsa Public Schools relies on regular progress monitoring to determine and evaluate how well charters are performing based upon these measures and standards through an annual report. The framework is the primary tool guiding charter renewal recommendations, and these ultimately help each school reach their potential.

Below, you will find summaries of the 2015-16 annual report for each public charter school sponsored by Tulsa Public Schools.

• KIPP Tulsa College Preparatory - Summary
• Tulsa Legacy Charter School - Summary
• Tulsa School of Arts and Sciences - Summary
• College Bound Academy - Summary
• Collegiate Hall - Summary
• Tulsa Honor Academy - Summary

For more information, or a copy of the full performance report for any school, please contact Becky Gligo, Director of Charter Schools and Portfolio Management, at gligore@tulsaschools.org.