Rhode Island's Charter Public Schools

Rhode Island charter public schools are free and open to the public. Use the Family Information Tool (FIT) to search through the charter public school options available in Rhode Island. Explore academic programs, compare schools and find more information within each school’s profile. Information for every Rhode Island charter public school can be found in the Family Information Tool.

The complete list of charter schools, grades served, their locations and enrolling communities are also listed below. This printable List of Charter Schools in Rhode Island provides information in a single page for all charter public schools, links to each web-page, grade levels served, communities served and charter type

Requests for Proposals for New Student Seats

The resources on this page are for all charter proposals to open new student seats (new charter schools and expansions). RIDE invites members of the public to submit applications in response to the Request for Proposals for New Charter Seats to open in academic year 2024-25. The authorization process for new and expanding charters is in one centralized document, to help provide consistency and clarity for charter applicants.

Executive Summary Submission Deadline (July 3, 2023 5:00 p.m. EST)

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, differently-abled students, and/or multilingual learners. The executive summary, together with the application cover sheet, must provide an accurate and succinct overview of the proposal.

New Seat Application Submission Deadline (August 8, 2023 5:00 p.m. EST)

Proposal submissions are due on August 8, 2023. Please see Submission Instructions for more information on how to submit a proposal. Any proposal received after the deadline will not be considered.

All complete proposals will be posted to the RIDE webpage. RIDE reserves the right to reject substantially incomplete proposals

• The 2023 Request for Proposals for New Student Seats can be found here
• The budget template can be sent upon request to RICharters@ride.ri.gov
• The Charter School Readiness Handbook is available upon request

Technical Assistance

Any party that has specific questions, interest in future proposal opportunities, or questions about the process should email RICharters@ride.ri.gov.   

CHARTER SCHOOL PROGRAM GRANT STARTUP INFORMATION

• Information about the Charter School Program grant will be made available soon. Please email RICharters@ride.ri.gov with any questions.

RIDE’s Office of School Opportunities will post completed applications here in Late August 2023. At that time, we invite members of the public to provide written public comments on the completed charter proposals. Comments and statements may be submitted by e-mail to RICharters@ride.ri.gov, by mail to RIDE at 255 Westminster Street, Providence, RI 02903 Attn: Office of School Opportunities or at public hearings, to be scheduled by RIDE pursuant to R.I.G.L § 16-77.2-3; 16-77.3-3 and 16-77.4-3.

Resources for Families and Community

Visit EnrollRI.org/charter to learn more! 

Enrollment in a charter public school is nonselective and conducted by random lottery. 

Use the Family Information Tool (FIT) to find the school(s) that meets the performance, accessibility, and programmatic targets you are seeking. Next, use the EnrollRI Common Application to apply to any participating charter schools you are interested in and for which your child is eligible to attend. Participating charter schools will hold their 2023-2024 admissions lotteries on April 3, 2022 and will communicate your student’s enrollment status soon after that time. If a charter public school you are interested in is not currently participating in the EnrollRI Common Application, reach out to the school directly to apply. 

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): This document addresses many common questions about charter public schools in Rhode Island. [PDF]

Resources for Charter School Administrators

• Governance Handbook
• Lottery and Enrollment Guidance

Charter Public School Accountability

In addition to being classified just as any other Rhode Island public school, charter public 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 Performance Review System Handbook for more detail on the charter performance indicators and information about the renewal process.

Charter public 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 compiles an annual Charter School Performance Dashboard, for each charter public school, based on the indicators above. The report template can be found here.

Urban Core Education Summit

The Rhode Island Department of Education served as host to a meeting series called the "The Urban Core Education Summit," where we laid the foundation for collaboration between school leaders in Providence Public Schools, Central Falls Public Schools, and charter schools in those cities. This initiative launched in Summer 2021 and is ongoing.

The core objectives are relationship building and identifying common areas for further discussion and potential collaboration. The summit is facilitated by Dr. Kenneth Wong, Annenberg Professor and Director of the Urban Education Policy program at Brown University.

For further questions and/or comments, please contact RICharters@ride.ri.gov.

Any other examples of Sharing Practices between Charters and Traditional Schools that you want to share?

Please contact RICharters@ride.ri.gov. We would love to share it!

No pending major amendments at this time - Please check back at a later date.