What a Charter School Can Do for You and Your Child at Mill Creek

As Mill Creek Academy prepares to open for the 2023-24 school year, parents and students who are unfamiliar with charter schools might have questions.

Who runs them? How are they different from public schools? And what do they offer?

Those answers (and more) can be found here, but to summarize, charter schools are tuition-free public schools that are independent from the local public schools. Like public schools, charter schools are required to adhere to all federal, state, and local education, health, and safety rules and regulations. The quality of a private school education, without the cost, is available to all students.

Charter schools are subject to the same standards as public schools, and report to an authorizer who determines if the school is meeting the goals set in its charter. The authorizer monitors the school’s performance, including finances and stability, and can consist of a board of education, a state university, community college, or local district. Mill Creek Academy is authorized by the University of Wisconsin System Office of Educational Opportunity.

National Heritage Academies (NHA) is the management organization behind Mill Creek Academy and nearly 100 schools across nine states. The support and resources NHA provides to teachers and administrators on the ground in schools allows them to focus their time and energy on what they do best – teach. NHA’s Service Center is headquartered in Grand Rapids, Mich., and employs hundreds of people – from curriculum specialists to safety and health – who do some heavy lifting behind the scenes for schools.

Mill Creek’s opening will continue to strengthen school choice in the community, giving parents options for children who otherwise would be assigned a school solely based on where they live. Mill Creek will fill a need in Waukesha. It’s something NHA has provided to so many communities since 1995: a proven Moral Focus-based curriculum.