NOLA Public Schools has led a dramatic increase in the number of students meeting academic proficiency standards, and the performance gap between students in Orleans Parish and Louisiana as a whole has dramatically decreased between 2005-2019. The impacts from the Covid-19 pandemic have hit urban districts particularly hard, however, and New Orleans is no exception. Despite previous academic gains, additional progress is needed.
Every student in New Orleans deserves equal access to high quality schools where their interests will come first, where they and their families will have choice, and where educators will have the tools and support they need to be successful. Please view the Profile At-a-Glance for Charter Applicants for more information on the district.
The NOLA Public Schools Request For Applications will begin on September 5, 2023 and a detailed timeline is provided below. If you are interested in applying after the deadline for applications has passed, you may use the materials and information from previous charter cycles below as a reference, however, please note that the application may be updated annually, and thus there may be changes to the upcoming cycle's application in comparison with the previous year's application.
District Authorizing Priorities
The Orleans Parish School Board regularly adopts a set of district authorizing priorities to guide its charter authorization process. These priorities outline what the district seeks in operators to expand high-quality options for families. Setting clear District Authorizing Priorities informs recruitment strategies for new operators and expansion of existing operators; provides transparency in the charter application process of the district’s objectives; and informs the Superintendent’s decision to approve new schools.
Please note the following section from the District Authorizing Priorities (entire document is linked below):
NOLA Public Schools is committed to the optimization of the district. This means that by making strategic portfolio decisions families have high-quality options, schools have the funding they need for improved programming and teacher salaries, and buildings are of the highest quality and are being fully utilized. As such, the district is seeking to have a strong bench of operators available to transform a school, should the need arise. While the district does not anticipate newly approved charter applicants opening new schools in the near future, applicants for new schools are welcome to apply.
District Authorizing Priorities
Fall 2023 RFA Cycle
Any organization or individual may become eligible to submit an application by meeting specific eligibility requirements as outlined in the Eligibility Determination document and submitting a Letter of Intent. In order to be eligible to submit a full application in the NOLA Public Schools' Fall 2023 Charter Request for Applications process all Eligibility Determination and Letter of Intent are due in the Edlusion Application Portal by October 13, 2023 at 12PM CST. Application materials will be made available below for organizations' reference. If you have any questions please contact Anne-Lise McCarver at amccarver@nolapublicschools.com. NOLA Public Schools Profile At-a-Glance, 2023 Charter RFA Applicant Training Deck, 2023 and Recording of Charter RFA Applicant Info Session Louisiana Department of Education's Charter Applicant Toolbox 1. Each applicant team should designate one person as their "main applicant" who will be the one to initiate (and eventually submit) the application. 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). A. 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). B. Other applicant users (collaborators) should wait until the main applicant user has added them as a collaborator. a.. They will get an email notification when that happens. b. 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, click this link https://nola.edlusion.com/application/initiate?id=760. If you are not an Epicenter user, you might need to register yourself as a new user.
The PDFs linked below allow applicants to see all of the questions they may encounter in the portal.
2023 New Operator Charter Application
2023 Experienced Operator Charter Application
2023 Updated Overview Template - All applicant groups must complete this document and submit along with the rest of the group's application materials.
Additional Resources:
Instructions for Using the Edlusion Portal
The main applicant user should initiate a Letter of Intent and Eligibility.
4. Continue the application.
For assistance with the Edlusion Portal, please see this user guide or refer to this Applicant FAQ. For a link to a training video on the Edlusion Application Portal, please e-mail Anne-Lise McCarver at amccarver@nolapublicschools.com.
Fall 2023 Submitted Eligible Applications
Engaged Learning Academies of Louisiana
ReNEW - Reinventing Education
Fall 2022 RFA Cycle
Charter RFA Applicant Training
Eligibility Determination
Letter of Intent
Edlusion Portal
No applications were submitted during the Fall 2022 cycle.
Spring 2022 RFA Cycle
Eligibility Determination
Letter of Intent
Edlusion Application Portal
Overview Template-All applicant groups must complete this document and submit along with the rest of the group's application materials.
New Operator Application PDF
Experienced Operator Application PDF
Virtual School Operator Application PDF
Spring 2022 Submitted Applications
Initial Memo from Independent Evaluator
Applicant Response to Initial Memo
Factual Clarification Memo from Independent Evaluator
Applicant Response to Factual Clarification Memo
Final Recommendation from Independent Evaluator
Applicant Response to Final Recommendation
Empowerment Education Corporation of New Orleans (Withdrew application April 7, 2022)
Initial Memo from Independent Evaluator
Applicant Response to Initial Memo
Factual Clarification Memo from Independent Evaluator
Final Recommendation from Independent Evaluator
Initial Memo from Independent Evaluator
Factual Clarification Memo from Independent Evaluator
Applicant Response to Factual Clarification Memo
Spring 2021 RFA Cycle
For information on the Spring 2021 RFA Cycle, please review this presentation. Letter of Intent
School Development Overview - 2021
Eligibility Determination
Edlusion Application Portal
Spring 2021 Charter Application
Spring 2021 RFA Evaluation Standards
Louisiana Department of Education Evaluation Standards
Spring 2021 Submitted Applications
Initial Memo from Independent Evaluator
Applicant Response to Initial Memo
Factual Correction Memo from Independent Evaluator
Final Recommendation from Independent Evaluator
Applicant Response to Final Recommendation
Algiers Charter School Application (ACSA-4) (Withdrew application June 9, 2021)
Factual Correction Memo from Independent Evaluator
Final Recommendation from Independent Evaluator
Applicant Response to Final Recommendation
Algiers Charter School Application (ACSA-NOLA-3) (Withdrew application June 9, 2021)
Factual Correction Memo from Independent Evaluator
Final Recommendation from Independent Evaluator
Applicant Response to Final Recommendation
Algiers Charter School Application (ACSA-NOLA-4) (Withdrew application June 9, 2021)
Initial Memo from Independent Evaluator
Factual Correction Memo from Independent Evaluator
Final Recommendation from Independent Evaluator
Applicant Response to Final Recommendation
The Seed Sowing Group (Withdrew application April 26, 2021)
Spring 2020 RFA Cycle
Charter Applicant Eligibility Form Supplemental Materials:
Applicants who have approved Letters of Intent and Eligibility Documentation have been provided a link to the application on the EdLusion Portal.
Sample Letter of Intent
Spring 2020 Charter RFA Full Application
Spring 2020 RFA Evaluation Rubric and Evaluation Information
Spring 2020 Submitted Applications
Application (Without Attachments)
Attachments (Zipped)
Initial Memo from Independent Evaluator
Applicant Response to Initial Memo
Factual Clarification Memo from Independent Evaluator
Applicant Response to Factual Clarification Memo
Final Recommendation Memo from Independent Evaluator
Applicant Response to Final Recommendation Memo
Generation Success
Application (Without Attachments)
Attachments (Zipped)
Initial Memo from Independent Evaluator
Applicant Response to Initial Memo
Factual Clarification Memo from Independent Evaluator
Applicant Response to Factual Clarification Memo
Final Recommendation Memo from Independent Evaluator
Applicant Response to Final Recommendation Memo
Past RFA Cycles
Additional Cycles can be found in our archive website: previous.opsb.us – for additional information please consider filing a public records request.
Start a Charter School
The Fall 2023 charter application cycle opened September 5, 2023 with the Letter of Intent and Eligibility Determination due by October 13, 2023. The full application is due by October 27, 2023. Resources from prior application cycles are available further down on this page.
District Primary Contact
For any questions regarding opening a charter school in New Orleans, and/or the application process, please contact Anne-Lise McCarver at amccarver@nolapublicschools.com.
