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Our Mission

The Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools (OAPCS) aspires to provide children with greater educational opportunities by improving the quality and fostering the growth of Ohio’s public charter schools.

A center for excellence

The Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools (OAPCS) is a non-profit, non-partisan and independent membership organization dedicated to the enhancement and sustainability of quality charter schools through standards, values, best practices, business and financing resources and technical assistance programs. Charter schools are a major element of public education reform in the United States, and Ohio has the fifth-largest charter school enrollment in the nation.

OAPCS emphasizes the need for excellence among Ohio’s public charter schools, with a credo of quality that includes standards and principles for its members, ultimately leading to the Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools’ certification of qualified schools. To help member schools raise their level of performance both academically and in other areas of operation, OAPCS serves as a center for:

  • School improvement planning
  • Student achievement planning
  • Financial and human resource management
  • Training and professional development
  • Achieving regulatory compliance and accountability
  • Sharing and developing innovative ideas and best practices

    • OAPCS is proud to support other associations dedicated to helping charter schools throughout Ohio.

    Providing Unity

    The Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools plays an active role in advocating on behalf of its members, representing their viewpoints to elected and appointed officials and other opinion leaders at the state and local levels. OAPCS is dedicated to preserving and promoting the principles of instructional freedom, flexibility and innovation that are at the heart of the charter school concept, while ensuring that charter schools are properly accountable. OAPCS is also dedicated to upholding the principle of school choice for Ohio residents, inasmuch as charter schools provide avenues of opportunity for parents and students whose traditional public schools may not offer a desirable learning environment. In addition, the Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools keeps its members informed of the latest developments regarding current issues in public education, including public policy matters and highly effective educational or managerial practices.

    Annual Conference

    The Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools’ 2008 Annual Conference drew over 300 participants to the Columbus North Crowne Plaza Hotel October 14 through the 15th. Speakers included Nelson Smith, President of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, Joe Williams, Executive Director of Democrats for Education Reform, Rita Pierson, national authority on the impact of poverty on classroom performances, Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives Jon Husted, and Bill Sims, President of the Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools. The conference,sponsored by 19 state and national organizations included over 35 breakout sessions during the two-day period with continuing educational units (CEUs) for Ohio charter school teachers.

    Huge thanks to the Arts and College Preparatory Academy of Columbus to the student performances and entertainment.

    Congratulations are in order:

    • OAPCS Distinguished Service Award:  Dr. Susan T. Zelman, immediate past Ohio State Superintendent for Public Instruction, was presented with this year’s award.
    • OAPCS Teacher of the Year Award: Jim Melko, sixth-year teacher in the Mound Street Health Careers Academy.
    • OAPCS School Leader of the Year Award: Cengis Karatas, Director of the Horizon Science Academy Cleveland High School.
    • OAPCS Charter School Best Innovative Practice Award: Par Excellence Academy

    The following schools were recognized for their achievement excellence in the following categories:


    Excellence Awards - For a report card designation of “Excellent” or “Excellent with Distinction” for the past two years:
    • Aspire Academy
    • Lorain Academy for Gifted Students
    • M.O.D.E.L. Community School
    • Old Brooklyn Community School
    • Toledo School for the Arts
    • Upper Arlington International Baccalaureate High School

    Constant Quality Awards – For maintaining a rating of “Effective” or “Effective with Distinction” for the past three years:
    • Arts & College Prep
    • Aspire Academy
    • Cincinnati College Preparatory Academy
    • Horizon Science Academy - Cleveland
    • The Intergenerational School
    • Lorain Academy for Gifted Students
    • MODEL Community School
    • Oakstone Community School
    • Old Brooklyn Community School
    • Parma Community
    • T.C.P. World Academy
    • Toledo School for the Arts
    • Upper Arlington International Baccalaureate High School

    School Improvement Awards – For increasing state ratings by two or levels over the past two years:
    • Academy of Arts & Sciences
    • Heir Force
    • Madison Community School
    • Marcus Garvey
    • Horizon Science Academy - Cincinnati
    • Horizon Science Academy - Dayton
    • King Academy