Educating the Whole Child. Head, Heart, and Hands.

Charter schools are independent public schools that are founded by teachers, parents or community members and which offer unique educational approaches not normally found in traditional public schools. Being a charter school means parents have chosen this school for their children rather than their neighborhood school, a private school, or parochial school. As a public charter school, the school receives funding from the state and federal government. When accepting public funding the school is held accountable for the same performance expectations and state statutes as other public schools.

Seaside Charter Schools follow the same state testing mandates as other Duval County public schools and our teachers need to be Florida credentialed and highly qualified, as with any other public school teacher, and in alignment with federal requirements. Seaside Charter Schools, as a K-8, Public Waldorf charter school has additional certification requirements whereby teachers participate in Waldorf training throughout the school year and summer, equating to an additional 4 years beyond their teaching credential. This program is fully funded through the Seaside School Consortium’s Annual Giving Campaign. 

Per the Florida Department of Education, charter schools are public schools of choice. They are very popular—and among the fastest growing school choice options in Florida. Charter schools are largely free to innovate, and often provide more effective programs and choice to diverse groups of students.
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Since 1996, the number of charter schools in Florida has grown to over 658 in 2018-19. Charter school student enrollment now tops 313,000 students. Check out the Charter School Program Statistics (PDF) for more details.

Charter schools are open to all students residing within the district; however, charter schools are allowed to target students within specific age groups or grade levels, students considered at-risk of dropping out or failing, students wishing to enroll in a charter school-in-the-workplace or charter school-in-a-municipality, students residing within a reasonable distance of the school, students who meet reasonable academic, artistic or other eligibility standards established by the charter school, or students articulating from one charter school to another. Additionally, a charter school may give enrollment preference to the following student populations:

• Siblings of current charter school students
• Children of a charter school governing board member or employee
• Children of employees of the business partner of a charter school-in-the-workplace or resident of the municipality in which such a charter is located
• Children of residents of a municipality that operates a charter school-in-a-municipality
• Students who have successfully completed a voluntary prekindergarten program provided by the charter school during the previous year
• Children of an active-duty member of any branch of the US Armed Forces

• Students who attended or are assigned to failing schools

Seaside Charter Schools are chartered by Duval County School District meaning that Superintendent and the school board oversee our budget and our curriculum. We adhere to the Florida State standards and state-wide testing but may follow a different methodology for delivery of the content. One of the many wonderful things about our district is it offers a range of educational options available for students. 

​Charter schools are created when an individual, a group of parents or teachers, a business, a municipality, or a legal entity submits an application to the school district; the school district approves the application; the applicants form a governing board that negotiates a contract with the district school board; and the applicants and district school board agree upon a charter or contract. The district school board then becomes the sponsor of the charter school. The negotiated contract outlines expectations of both parties regarding the school’s academic and financial performance.
 
A charter school must be organized as, or be operated by, a nonprofit organization. The charter school may serve at-risk students, or offer a specialized curriculum or core academic program, provide early intervention programs, or serve exceptional education students.

Seaside is operated by Seaside School Consortium, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit governed by a volunteer Board of Directors holding the charter contract with Duval County School Board. Seaside is also a partner school of the Alliance for Public Waldorf Education.

Tuition-free means exactly that. Zero dollars.

Kindergarten through Grade 8 at Seaside costs $0. No tuition. No enrollment fees. No required donations. No hidden costs. Seaside is funded by the same Duval County public education dollars as every other public school in the district. Every child who attends brings their per-pupil public funding with them – and that funding covers teachers, curriculum, facilities, and every program they participate in.

Note: The Sea Turtle Early Learning Center has tuition for its 3- and 4-year-old programs, because Pre-K is not part of Florida’s publicly funded K–8 system. The VPK program within the ELC is available at no cost to eligible families through the state’s Voluntary Prekindergarten program.