What is a Charter School...

Charter Schools are public schools. 
According to the Texas Education Agency, the purposes of a charter school is to:

(1) improve student learning;
(2) increase the choice of learning opportunities within the public school system;
(3) create professional opportunities that will attract new teachers to the public school system;
(4) establish a new form of accountability for public schools;
(5) encourage different and innovative learning methods.

The charter school model is one of the most important advances in public education.  Charter schools improve public education by providing competition, as well as a new venue to test new theories and implement the best practices for public schools.  Charters generally hold children to a higher, more individualized standard of performance.  Free of many state and district regulations, charters can provide more options for parents and children by allowing innovative teachers and educational leaders to design schools to meet the needs of today's students.

Providing parents with choice is a critical element to improving the quality of our children's education.  Parents who choose charter schools can feel a sense of ownership that, in turn, results in increased involvement and higher achievement.  Quality charter schools seek innovative ways to run a public school, giving parents public school choice, and proving that "one size does not fit all." 

In many ways, charter schools act as the "research and development" arm of public education.  Since charters have greater flexibility, they tend to attract pioneering educators who are willing to try new educational approaches.  When proven effective, new teaching methods can then implemented, tested, and modified to meet the needs of all students.

Like independent school districts, open-enrollment charter schools receive state funds based on the average daily attendance (ADA) of students; however, unlike independent school districts, open-enrollment charter schools do not receive funds from local tax revenue and do not have access to state facilities allotments.  Charter schools cannot levy taxes and are fully funded by the state, not local taxes.

TLCA - A Charter School

Because TLCA has been awarded a charter contract, we can now bring to our community increased opportunities for choice, improved educational practices, and inspired students.  TLCA is a place of success for children.  Our students have an opportunity to establish a firm foundation in effective learning principles.

We offer students a variety of learning opportunities through one-on-one, small-group and whole-group instructing.  Curriculum resources will be varied with paper-pencil tasks, hands-on tasks, group and individual projects.  Oral communications, as well as written skills are an integral part of the learning process.  Assessments are frequent and authentic.  Writing assignments, oral presentations, tiered lessons and cross-curricular lessons are provided for our students.

Our curriculum, CSCOPE, is set to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).  All curriculum resources support these standards.  We do ensure curriculum alignment horizontally and vertically through the use of the CSCOPE Curriculum developed by a consortium of Regional Service Centers. 

Our goal is to provide students with the opportunity to achieve their highest potential.  Providing adequate time on task is a major portion of our success with our students.  We also help their parents and guardians understand their children's capabilities.  We do communicate our high expectations to both the child and the parent.

All students deserve the right to a quality public education with an emphasis on preparing students to meet the needs of our changing world.  At TLCA we provide a structured learning environment with a 19:1 ratio.  That's 1 teacher for every 19 students, plus aids to assist in the classroom as well.  This affords your student the opportunity to have one-on-one instructional time as needed.

The vision for TLC Academy is three-fold:
    Academic Excellence
    Building Leaders, and
    Character Development

We want to empower our students to reach their greatest potential and teach them to be life-long learners.  Our curriculum will provide an in depth rigorous learning process geared to multiple intelligences.  Our goal of success for all will necessitate our teaching to the learning styles of each of our students.  Children need to be given opportunities to express their learning in a variety of ways.  In addition, children learn at different paces and levels.  All of our children are valued and nurtured and given opportunities to grow and succeed, regardless of their abilities or learning differences.  Failure is not an option.

We embrace the culture and experiences of all our students.  We celebrate traditions while learning to appreciate the value of our differences.  Leadership among our students will be a valued trait.  We teach our students how to make independent constructive choices to positively impact their lives, their families' lives and the community at large.  This added component increases their level of expectation for themselves and enables them to have a wide variety of choices for entry into competitive universities across our nation and our world.  We develop leaders for our future community.

The entire preface and vision of our charter school is to offer students an education like no other.  For information on the CSCOPE curriculum and how it engages the child in a unique learning experience, please call our school and make an appointment for a personal tour and intake.  We welcome your interest and look forward to working with you in preparing your child/children for their future.