Charter school enrollment has steadily been on the rise, and some reports indicate that charter schools have gained more than 300,000 new students in recent years, an increase of nine percent.

But just because charter enrollment is rising nationally doesn’t mean charter schools can sit back and let the inquiries roll in. Competition among private, public, and other charter schools has never been more intense.

For prospective families, your charter school’s website is the first place they’ll go to learn about what you have to offer — and if they don’t like what they see, they won’t come back. And for current families, it’s an essential communication hub to feel informed.

What do the best charter school websites have in common?

Mobile-friendly Design

Charter schools recruit and engage diverse audiences, and a mobile-friendly website ensures your website is as inclusive as your school. Additionally, 52% of users say that a bad mobile experience made them less likely to engage with a company—meaning your website’s mobile-friendliness could directly impact enrollment efforts.

Accessible Content and Design

One in five Americans have a disability — and an accessible website ensures that all of your website visitors can fully experience, appreciate, and understand the website's design and content.

Comprehensive Enrollment Process

A clear and detailed explanation of the charter system, lottery, and waitlist procedures is essential for informing families new to the charter school experience. When they’re informed and ready to enroll, charters need to make the enrollment process as streamlined as possible.

Authentic Content

From testimonials and news stories to blogs and social media content, prospective and current families want to see engaging content that they can connect with and relate to.

Clear Calls-to-Action (CTAs)

It’s your job to tell website visitors where to go and how to get there. Clear CTAs are a staple of a great charter website — especially those with lofty enrollment or fundraising goals.

Simple Navigation

Organized and logical navigation experiences decrease points of friction and increase the amount of time a website visitor spends on your site.

Personalized Content

While many charter schools use their website primarily for recruitment and parent involvement, it’s important to focus on retention, too. Creating personalized communication hubs for current families ensures your website helps you reach your retention goals and supports the relationships parents have with the school.

Now, let’s look at charter school websites paving the way with those features and more!

Learning Community Charter School

Learning Community Charter School in Jersey City, NJ, went live with its new site this summer, and with its engaging design, comprehensive information, and focus on community, it beautifully captures the student journey from early learning to graduation.

Don’t miss some of these features:

• Highlight Reel: The homepage features a video highlight reel showcasing key moments in the student experience, from early learning to graduation. It’s great for building a strong emotional connection right from the start and showing that learning journey.
   
• Mission and Distinctions: The site clearly articulates the school's mission and vision, highlighting its offerings like capstone projects, field experiences, arts education, and its house system.
   
• Quick Access to Information: Quicklinks provide easy access to fast facts, portraits of students, teachers, and alumni, recent news stories, and upcoming calendar events.
   
• Social Media Integration: The site integrates the school's latest Facebook posts, keeping visitors connected and informed.
   
• Organized Navigation: The main navigation is divided into several key areas, providing easy access to resources for families, admissions information, career resources, and ways to support the school.
   
• Family Resources: A dedicated section offers comprehensive information about food services, clubs, the PTO, transportation, and more, making it a valuable resource for both new and returning users.
   
• Comprehensive Admissions Information: The admissions section provides detailed information about the waitlist and lottery system, open house schedules, and other important details that are so important for charters.

Dove Schools

Within a respected educational network in Oklahoma, Dove Schools' new website is as vibrant and distinctive as its approach to education. With pops of color, engaging content, and a strong focus on its mission, this site captures the school's branding to create a custom feel and a touch of personality throughout the site.

Here's what makes it special:

• Mission-Driven: The design is refreshing and engaging, with a lot of character, spirit, and energy. The site clearly communicates Dove Schools' mission of creating a brighter future through its commitment to STEM education, college readiness, and character development.
   
• Strong Admissions Focus: The admissions page reinforces the school's values and provides opportunities for prospective families to apply, connect for more information, or attend school tours, info sessions, and open houses. It also includes answers to frequently asked questions and an embedded map to help families locate the various Dove Schools throughout the Oklahoma City area.
   
• Data and Testimonials: A "Dove by the Numbers" section highlights the school's impressive 100% college acceptance rate and its nearly 3,800 students. Testimonials from teachers, alumni, parents, administrators, and students also reinforce the positive impact of the Dove Schools experience.

Dr. Lena Edwards Academic Charter School

With its mission to nurture both learning and empathy, Dr. Lena Edwards Academic Charter School launched its user-friendly and informative site in June. It’s a valuable resource for families seeking more information about well-rounded education for their children, but here's what makes it really stand out:

• Welcoming Introduction: The homepage features a warm welcome that introduces users to the charter school and its mission. It also highlights key features of its campus, including learning and community centers and access to a professional theater for cultural education.
   
• Strategic Communication: The website uses pop-up web notifications to draw attention to important information, such as admissions and enrollment updates, so families are aware of key dates and deadlines.
   
• Focus on Character Education: A grid of posts highlights the school's focus on character education, showcasing programs in health and wellness and so much more, like STEM, music and arts, mentoring, and high-quality after-school experiences.
   
• Organized and Intuitive: The hamburger menu provides helpful links to resources for families, news, photo galleries, and more. Quicklinks also connect users to important forms it's thoughtfully organized, with key information presented in a manageable and intuitive way that makes it easy for users to navigate the site and find exactly what they need.

Avon Grove Charter School

Avon Grove’s new website takes a modern, mobile-first approach to its design to create a seamless and user-friendly experience for visitors. With its strong branding, intuitive navigation, and wealth of resources, the charter serves the needs of its community with a focus on:

• Mobile Optimization: Large image-based buttons, clear iconography, and navigation make for easy access to key information on any device.
   
• Intuitive Navigation: The main navigation provides resources on admissions, enrollment, programs, and the school's mission. The omni-navigation is clear and simple, with dedicated sections for parents, students, and staff.
   
• Quick Access to Information: Quicklinks for parents and students are prominently displayed at the top of the page, providing easy access to frequently used resources, including calendars that are conveniently located on one page, filterable by division, and viewable by month, week, or day.
   
• Filtered News and Streamlined Parent Hub: The news section features filters for different grade levels, allowing families to find relevant information quickly, while a dedicated Parent Hub provides a central location for important resources and information for parents and guardians.
   
• Strong Branding and Social Media Integration: The site effectively uses the school's branding throughout the template's content elements, calendar, CTAs, and more. The site also integrates the school's latest Facebook posts, keeping visitors connected and informed without having to log into social.

Florida State University Schools

Florida State University Schools shows just how much of an impact strong visuals and effective branding can have on a site.

Be sure to check out its:

• Creative Visuals and Branding: The website's hero slideshow features striking images that convey professionalism and character, and they set a high standard for the rest of the site. Look closely, and you’ll see the school's seal is used as a creative section divider, which reinforces its branding throughout the interior page layouts.
   
• Unique and Functional CTAs: The first panel includes distinctive CTAs for admissions, making payments, and accessing cafeteria information—highly relevant resources for families.
   
• Mobile-Friendly Quicklinks: Icons serve as links to essential resources like faculty and staff directories, calendars, extended day programs, health and wellness information, and more.
   
• Data-Driven Impact: The site highlights the school's special programs and distinctions, such as its robust library, research resources, and CTE programs, while a "By the Numbers" section presents impressive facts, including the number of students participating in dual enrollment, the variety of STEAM courses offered, and the school's high ranking in US News & World Report.
   
• Social Media Integration: The website integrates the school's Facebook posts and consistently uses the branded hashtags #WeAreFSU and #EveryStudentEveryDay, supporting the school's identity and encouraging community engagement across multiple platforms.
   
• Organized Navigation and Well-Structured Content: The hamburger menu expands to reveal key areas like academics, admissions, and student life. The interior pages are neatly organized with accordion folders and tabs, making it easy for users to find and digest detailed information.

Compass for Lifelong Learning

With its two K-8 public charter schools, Compass for Lifelong Learning has a refreshing new website that beautifully represents its commitment to community-based experiences. The site’s design and content do a wonderful job of showcasing the identity of each school while reinforcing their shared mission and vision.

Here's what makes it stand out:

• Scenic and Engaging: The homepage features a slideshow with a unique two-thirds layout, combining text with stunning landscape shots of the school campuses amidst the snowy Colorado mountains.
   
• Celebrating Individuality: The website effectively presents both schools, highlighting their distinct identities while emphasizing their connection to the overall program's mission and vision. Still, users can easily explore information about each school, learn more about the administration, and stay updated with recent news stories.
   
• Cohesive Brand Experience: While each school has its own distinct look and feel, the website maintains a familiar branding and user experience across both sites, so families can explore each school's offerings while understanding their shared commitment to excellence.
   
• Consistent Design Elements: The use of secondary colors, similar layouts, familiar navigation structures, and strategically placed CTAs support that sense of consistency and make it easy for users to navigate both websites.

Vida Charter School

Vida Charter School, with its innovative dual-language immersion program, has a new website that's as vibrant and engaging as its approach to education. This site effectively showcases the school's commitment to bilingualism and its community, providing a user experience that effectively guides and inspires.

Here are some of the highlights:

• Powerful Theme Design: The site leverages a strong theme design that reinforces the school's brand, colors, and language. This allows Vida to effectively highlight its differentiators, such as its bilingual education, partnerships, and inclusive community.
   
• Community Focus: Testimonials from staff, family members, and alumni create a sense of community and showcase the positive impact of the school. Social media integration keeps the website fresh and engaging, while news and events are prominently featured on the homepage. The site also emphasizes the benefits of the school's dual-language program, highlighting how it helps students become successful by embracing bilingualism and biliteracy.
   
• Accessible to All: Continuing its focus on bilingualism, one-click translation by Weglot makes the website accessible to both English and Spanish speakers, ensuring that all families can easily connect with the school.
   
• Resources for Families: The website provides a wealth of resources for families, including information about how charter schools operate to help families understand the opportunities that Vida Charter School offers.
   
• Strong Calls-to-Action: The website features prominent CTAs for its online store, inquiries, visits, and applications, making it easy for families to take the next step.

Highline Academy Charter Schools

With high-quality visuals and a focus on community, Highline’s new website beautifully captures its commitment to inclusive excellence, academics, and educating the whole child.

Visit the site to explore more of its:

• Value-Driven Design: The homepage prominently displays the school's vision and core values, emphasizing its commitment to reaching "up, in, and out" to pursue academic, personal, and civic excellence.
   
• Data Highlights: A "By the Numbers" section presents interesting facts and statistics to help paint a picture of the school's diverse and thriving community, such as the 32 languages represented and the more than 1,100 students enrolled annually.
   
• Celebrating Two Campuses: The site captures the distinctions of its two campuses while highlighting their shared mission and values. This helps families understand the unique offerings of each campus while reinforcing the school's overall identity.
   
• Charter School Clarity: A helpful section explains the charter school experience to prospective families, providing information about the enrollment process, the benefits of charter schools, and why families should consider Highline Academy.
   
• Organized Information: The "About Us" section neatly organizes information about the school's mission, vision, core values, strategic plan, and internal commitments using accordion folders so visitors can easily find the information they need, especially on mobile.
   
• Introducing the Team: A directory featuring the leadership of both campuses and the network team helps introduce key individuals to the school community to create those important connections and put a name to a face.
   
• Integrated Forms: Mobile-friendly, embedded Finalsite Forms are integrated throughout the site, simplifying tasks such as reporting an absence or submitting an accommodation request. 

Atlanta Classical Academy

Having launched in October amid the back-to-school rush, Atlanta Classical Academy, a public charter school serving grades K-12, showcases its dedication to a classical education experience. It’s a well-designed and informative site that makes excellent use of its template, incorporating embedded videos, interactive grid elements, and strong imagery to showcase academics, athletics, and fine arts, among many other distinctions, like:

• Strong Community Focus: A dedicated community section provides information about the parent association, student clubs, and the school's house system for grades 6-8, which supports a little healthy competition, leadership, and growth.
   
• Upcoming Events and Calendar: The homepage provides a collection of upcoming events and a link to the full calendar, making it easy for families to stay informed and involved.
   
• Integrated Faculty and Staff Directory: An integrated directory allows users to search for and view profiles of staff and teaching faculty, which is practical but also introduces the school community to prospective families.
   
• Mobile-Friendly Design: Interior pages are organized into mobile-friendly content blocks with easily digestible information. For example, accordions expand to reveal detailed information about classical education and other topics without placing too much text on the page at once.
   
• Comprehensive Navigation: The hamburger menu expands into high-level pages covering parent resources, community, fine arts, enrollment, and support opportunities, including the wealth of news stories and alumni spotlights that showcase the school's impact and latest happenings.

Key Takeaway

Charter schools are known for their innovation in education and require a website that can tell that story. If you’re feeling inspired by these websites, browse our custom web design portfolio for more great examples of charter school web design. If you want feedback on your own charter’s website presence, request a free website report card and get expert feedback sent right to your inbox!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

As part of Finalsite's marketing team, Debbie has worked with international schools for the past 14 years while living in both Asia and Europe. She helps schools understand how they can maximize their web presence while partnering with Finalsite. As a parent of three children who graduated from IB World Schools, she has keen insights into the marketing and communication needs of international schools.