A public school first and last

We receive many questions about enrollment in the Whole Life Charter School. Many of the conversations we have with inquiring parents progress similarly to the faq below. We hope this page answers the majority of your questions about enrollment. Even then, we encourage you to speak with one of our representatives to get a fuller understanding of our method.

Q.  Who can attend the Whole Life Charter School?

A.  During our first year projected for Fall 2012 we will enroll any student in grades 4-6 who resides in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Q.  What is the yearly tuition?

A.  There is no tuition. Your child’s tuition has been paid for by your tax dollars.

Q.  Where does the money come from?

A.  Every child in the Commonwealth receives a school grant that is made up of federal, state, and local funds. This money is paid to the school district that the child lives in (district of residence) when the child is enrolled in a local public school. If a child is enrolled in a Pennsylvania charter school, PA Commonwealth law requires that the district of residence pay approximately 80% of the districts standard rate for that student to the charter school. The district generally retains 20% for administration and transportation costs.

Q.  How are children selected for your school?

A.  We do not select our students. Our students and their parents select our school. We do recommend that you learn as much as you can about our school and our method by speaking with a representative before choosing the Whole Life Charter School. We believe that you should choose one charter school over the other available options including your local public school because you believe that your child will be best educated in that school, that the methods used to educate your child are consistent with your child’s learning styles, that your child will be able to follow the school’s curriculum, and that the school offers the extra curricular activities that excite your child.

Q.  What if you receive more pre-enrollments than you have available placements? Who will you take first?

A.  The laws of the Commonwealth require that we first enroll students who reside in the same school district that the Whole Life Charter School is a part of. We are hoping to open our school within the borders of the Springfield Township School District (Montgomery County, Pennsylvania) in the very near future. Springfield Township students will be selected first. The law then provides for situations when school district students don't fill all of the available seats by allowing the charter school to enroll students from other school districts. Finally, if there are fewer seats than the sum of enrollment apllications, selection is made by lottery independent of the date any applications were made.

Q.  Do you expect to be able to take students from other school districts based on present pre-enrollments?

A.  Yes. Our school targets a relatively narrow segment of the student population. We designed a school that we believe will particularly benefit smart teenagers that are under performing at more traditional schools because they are dealing with language-based learning disabilities and/or Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD/ADHD) or Asperger's Syndrome. Rather than getting many pre-enrollments from the local school district we typically receive small numbers of pre-enrollments from many different school districts. We have received pre-enrollments from as far away as Downingtown and inquiries from as far away as State College.

Q.  Does a student have to have a learning disability, ADHD, or Asperger's Syndrome to enroll in the school?

A.  No. As a public school we are legally required to accept any student. In fact, we believe that the Whole Life Charter School will offer an exceptional education to any child that enrolls.

Q.  Is my information kept in confidence.

A.  Please see our easy to understand privacy policy here.

Q.  How do I pre-enroll my child?

A.  Our on-line pre-enrollment form is right here.