Following are some of the questions we receive most often from parents. We hope you find the responses helpful. This is not an exhaustive list of questions by any means, so if your question is not answered below, please contact us via our convenient online form. We want to hear from you!
What exactly is a charter school?
How much is tuition?
How do I enroll my child?
Is my child guaranteed a seat if I submit an enrollment application?
Do you have a dress code?
Do you offer before- and after-school care?
Do you provide bus transportation?
What do your parents have to say?
What is your curriculum like?
What about your moral focus curriculum?
Are NHA teachers fully certified?
I’ve heard that charter school students don’t perform as well academically as their traditional public school peers. Is that the case at NHA?
What type of extracurricular programs do you offer?
I’ve heard that charter schools take the “best students” from public schools?
Charter schools are independently-operated public schools. There is no charge to parents because funding comes from state tax dollars, just like a traditional public school. In addition to adhering to all of the same state and local rules and regulations, and meeting the same academic requirements as traditional public schools, charter schools have additional accountabilities. They are overseen by their charter authorizer or sponsor, as well as their school board, and are also held accountable by their parents, who can choose another school if they are not satisfied. In addition, charter schools must be non-sectarian and adhere to all state and federal educational, health and safety regulations.
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We do not charge tuition. NHA managed schools are free, state-funded, public schools open to all students.
You can enroll online by clicking here or you can call 1-866-NHA-ENROLL to speak with a parent relations specialists who will answer any questions you may have.
As with all charter schools, NHA schools are public schools open to everyone. If there are enough seats available to accommodate all of the applications we receive, then your child is guaranteed a spot. In the event we receive more applications than available seats, we hold a public lottery to randomly select students to fill the seats. The rest of the students are placed on a waiting list as it is likely that seats will become available.
Paragon Charter Academy has a dress code policy. Please click here to learn more. Go to Top
We do not offer before and after school care as part of our program. However, we have partnered with Tee Tee's Place to offer an on-site program for our families. To learn more click here.
We do not offer bus transportation. However, we have seen great success with parents coordinating carpooling. Click here for specifics about transportation or carpool programs.
We love hearing from our parents! Their feedback is critical to help us identify what we're doing well and to understand where we need to get better. So, we conduct an annual parent satisfaction survey to assess how well we are serving our families. In the most recent survey, 63% of our parents reported they would grade their NHA school with an “A” compared to 26% of parents nationally who would give an “A” to their traditional public school. We feel pretty good about those results, but our goal, of course, is to have 100% of our parents grade us with an "A".
We are proud to offer a rigorous and challenging curriculum that has been uniquely designed to prepare our students for high academic achievement in successive schooling environments. Our goal is to graduate students who have not only had the opportunity to achieve academic excellence, but who have also acquired the knowledge and skills necessary to thrive in high school, college and beyond.
Our goal of preparing all students for college success has led us to take a unique approach in the development of our curriculum. Our curriculum has been developed to support any state’s standards, with a unique college-bound approach that articulates the specific knowledge and skills students are expected to master, in each content area at each grade level. The curriculum architecture organizes student learning around Exemplars, or categories of learning, similar to the structure of most state standards documents. The Exemplars include learning objectives that specifically articulate what students should know and be able to do in each content area and at each grade level. These learning objectives clearly identify the teaching focus, so teachers are able to effectively focus on learning strategies for individual students, providing appropriate levels of challenge.
In addition to teaching the basic core subjects, NHA schools also offer art, music, library and physical education classes.
We believe great schools develop both a student’s heart and mind. Our moral focus curriculum is designed to support our parents' efforts to teach character at home by reinforcing and modeling universal human virtues, such as compassion, respect and integrity. A different virtue is featured each month of the school year and is supported by curriculum in the classroom. Additionally, teachers model behavior that exemplifies the virtue, recognizing and praising students when they do the same. The moral focus curriculum is integrated throughout the school and creates an environment that is not just physically safe, but also emotionally safe. Students are taught to respect their classmates, to make smart decisions and to resolve disputes in a manner that displays strong character.
The Federal No Child Left Behind Act requires that all classroom teachers must be highly qualified. NHA attempts, in all cases, to employ highly qualified teachers who meet the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. NHA conducts an extensive interview and background check process with all of our teachers to ensure that they meet or exceed state requirements.
Actually, it's quite the contrary. Student achievement varies from school to school based on how long the school has been in operation and how long the students have attended, but results of state standardized test scores show that many of our students are outperforming their peers at their local public school districts. Test results also reveal that most NHA students are progressing at a faster rate, meaning they are showing more academic growth in a school year than their peers.
We understand that this is a common misconception, but the truth is that parents and students choose charter schools. NHA schools are open to all students and we are proud to serve a very diverse student body. Many NHA schools are located in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods and our student population is representative of the communities we serve. In the 2010-2011 school year, 64% of NHA students are eligible for free and reduced lunch and nearly 65% are minorities.