According to a report from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS), charter school enrollment spiked in the first year of the pandemic and has held steady in the 2021-22 school year. The NAPCS data is comprised from 41 states with active charter schools with three consecutive school year enrollment statistics reported from 2019 to 2022.
The report’s authors state that the steadying numbers indicate that the initial enrollment increase wasn’t just a coincidence. Numbers show that most students who left their district schools in the first year of the pandemic did not return, even after schools reopened and in-person instruction resumed. The enrollment shift away from traditional public schools is in part attributed to a trend where parents are seeking to take advantage of school choice options for their children to better meet their families’ needs. That trend, which appears to be the “new normal,” is resulting in some parents choosing charter schools, some choosing private schools, and others deciding to homeschool.
Summit Academy, located in the south end of Utah’s Salt Lake Valley, has acknowledged that growing educational need since opening in 2004 to provide quality education for grades K-6, emphasizing strong academic training, dynamic student-teacher interaction, and the discovery of each student's unique talents and interests. As the school experienced rapid growth, the founders saw a need to continue serving those students throughout their education, and in 2008, Summit Academy extended its services to include grades 7 through 9.
With the goal to continue the rigorous academic instruction the school is known for, and to prepare students for college success, Summit Academy High School opened its doors in 2010. Answering the growing demand for quality education, Summit Academy opened the Independence K-8 campus in Bluffdale in 2014. A second Bluffdale campus was opened in 2016 for K-6. Summit Academy continues to increase enrollment at each of the individual campuses, providing academic opportunities to excites a student’s desire to learn and succeed now and in the future.