New Charter Schools

Apply to Open a Charter School

This page provides information on requirements to submit a public charter school proposal to the North Carolina Charter Schools Review Board.

OPEN NOW: 2024 NC Charter Applications 

The 2024 North Carolina Charter School Application is now open, as of Friday, January 26th at 5 pm Eastern. The 2024 charter application window will close on April 26, 2024, at 5pm Eastern. Applicants who are interested in opening a charter school in 2025 under the accelerated timeline, or in 2026 under the standard timeline must submit their charter applications on or before the April 26, 2024 application close date. 

Both the online application and $1,000 application fee must be submitted on or before April 26, 2024 at 5pm Eastern. Applicant boards will be expected to appear in-person for interviews at the Department of Public Instruction in Raleigh, NC that will commence during the monthly meetings of the Charter Schools Review Board meeting beginning September 2024. 


For questions about the charter application process, please reach out to Melanie.Rackley@dpi.nc.gov
 

Instructions for applicants: 

  1. The main applicant user should initiate a new application.
    1. Each applicant team should designate one person as their "main applicant" who will be the one to initiate (and eventually submit) the application.
      1. Whoever initiates the application is the only user who can submit the application. 
    2. Only one person should do this and only once because each time it's done, a new application will be started (i.e. doing this more than once will start redundant applications).
      1. On future visits, there will be a link to continue this application on the user's EdLusion home page (after submission or deadline that link will go away). 
      2. Other applicant users (collaborators) should wait until the main applicant user has added them as a collaborator.
        1. They will get an email notification when that happens. 
        2. After that, they will have a link to collaborate on the application on their EdLusion home page (after submission or deadline that link will disappear). 
    3. To initiate a new application
       
      1. If you are already an Epicenter user, use the “Sign in with Epicenter” option. 
      2. If you are not an Epicenter user, you might need to register yourself as a new user.
  2. Continue the application.
  3. For further instructions, please watch the Applicant Training Video
    1. If you have any questions, please consult the Applicant FAQ. 
    2. If you still have questions, please reach out to Melanie.Rackley@dpi.nc.gov

NOTE: This application is not to enroll your child into an individual charter school. If you are seeking enrollment at a charter school, please refer to the schools webpage for a list of contact information for all charter schools in North Carolina.

Applying to open and operate a public charter school is a multiple step process.

Application Resources

Post-Approval Resources