FAQ

A Charter School is an independent public school, operated in accordance with a “charter” or written contract issued by a local school board. Charter schools give families a choice in where their children are educated within the public school system, and allow the families to determine the education that is best suited for their child.

Charter schools were created to provide opportunities for teachers, families, students, and community members to establish and maintain schools that operate independently from the existing school district structure as a method to accomplish the following: 

• improve student learning; 
• increase learning opportunities for all students; 
• encourage the use of different and innovative teaching methods;
• create new professional opportunities for teachers;
• provide parents and students with expanded choices in the types of educational opportunities that are available within the public school system; and
• be accountable for meeting measurable academic standards. 

In addition to the many of the same mandates as other public schools in Pennsylvania, including health and safety, special education, civil rights, student accountability, employee criminal history checks, open meetings, freedom of information requirements, generally accepted accounting principles, and certain provisions of the Pennsylvania School Code, Charter schools must comply with mandates unique to charter schools, such as renewal every five years and annual charter reports.

Schools that operate under a charter are divided into three general categories—charter schools, regional charter schools, and cyber charter schools. Vida Charter School is a regional charter school, operated under a charter from both Gettysburg Area School District and Hanover Public School District. Vida is also referred to as a "brick-and-mortar" charter school, as instruction occurs in-person in a physical school building, which must be located within the school districts that granted the charter. 

You can read more about Pennsylvania Public Charter Schools at the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) website.

Vida Charter School offers a bilingual learning experience that is not available in the surrounding schools. Vida’s Dual Language Immersion ensures that all students receive instruction in English and Spanish every day, developing biliteracy while learning academics according to PA State Standards. Vida’s unique biliteracy curriculum is designed to support a balance of daily English and Spanish instruction through interdisciplinary units which integrate literacy with science and social studies standards. Additionally, Vida’s community is distinct from other local schools in the diversity of our staff and students. Our community members come from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, and these are valued as assets that we appreciate and celebrate every day.

As a Public Charter School, Vida does NOT charge tuition nor any other fees to our students’ families. Vida Charter School is funded primarily by local taxpayer dollars. Based on our student enrollment, Vida receives a per pupil funding rate for each student from the district of residence where our students live. District per pupil funding comprises the vast majority of our revenue. Vida also receives some state and federal funds including Title I, II, III and IV.

Enrollment is open to any child who resides in Pennsylvania. Even though Vida is chartered through Gettysburg and Hanover school districts, any family may apply to enroll their student at Vida, and we will enroll students to the extent that we have space in our classrooms. A child must be age 5 by August 31st in order to enroll in Kindergarten. Please see our Admission and Enrollment policies for more details about how enrollment works at Vida.

YES! Our program is designed to support all students in becoming bilingual and biliterate and academically successful in both program languages. Proficiency in English will also ensure that our students are well-prepared for their continued education after they graduate from Vida and move on to middle and high school, and beyond. State standardized assessments are administered in English beginning in 3rd grade, and our teachers support the development of students who are strong readers, writers, and speakers of English and Spanish. Literacy instruction is delivered in both languages every day for all students.

Every year Vida enrolls children who do not speak Spanish at home. Students enrolling in Kindergarten will have many classmates who are also being immersed in Spanish for the very first time. Our teachers are highly skilled and consistently implement instructional practices that support students who are learning academic content in a new language. For families who do not speak Spanish at home, you do not need to worry about your own ability to help your child with Spanish homework assignments. Vida educators are accustomed to working with all families, and we have ways to reduce the need for parents/caregivers to support their children with homework in their new language.

For families considering enrolling their children after kindergarten, we encourage you to schedule a meeting with the school principal in addition to having a school tour. For older elementary students whose home language is Spanish, Vida is a great option that will build on the student’s prior knowledge and comprehension of Spanish while ensuring the development of English proficiency. For older elementary students, particularly a student above 2nd grade, who do not have a home language of Spanish, we have realistic conversations with their families regarding the level of challenge and sometimes frustration of a learner who is immersed in a new language for half of the day, when their grade level peers have had several years of foundational Spanish to build upon. This is based upon our observations at Vida, as well as recommendations from experts in the Dual Language field. However, all children are unique and we encourage interested families to call to schedule a meeting with a school administrator if you’re considering enrolling a student above 2nd grade. 

Vida Charter School educators administer both state and local assessments in English literacy, Spanish literacy and math which enables us to determine students’ progress throughout the year and offer support and intervention for students who are not meeting expected targets for performance or growth. All of this information helps us to measure how all students are reaching our school vision for bilingualism and academics, and in some cases, what changes need to be made. Our MTSS (Multi-tiered systems of support) team, which includes our Math Specialist, Learning Support Teacher, School Counselor, English learner teacher, Spanish Specialist, Instructional Coach and Principal consistently reviews all of the performance and growth data for our students, and in collaboration with teachers, create action plans to drive improvements in teaching and learning. Families are included in conversations about their student’s progress and any recommended interventions.

We strongly believe and have witnessed that students can achieve bilingualism and biliteracy while having special needs. Vida employs and contracts certified professionals and educators who can meet the special learning needs of students, largely within students’ instructional day at Vida. Students who require specialized instruction unavailable at Vida are provided access to appropriate placement through Vida. If your child has special learning needs, you are welcome to contact us to speak more about the opportunity for your child to become bilingual and biliterate at Vida.

No, Vida is not for profit. Vida is a non-profit organization and must comply with all of the applicable state and federal regulations pertaining to public schools. Vida is governed by an all-volunteer Board of Trustees, and our employees are public employees.

Yes! First, Vida must verify the district of residence where each student lives. This information must be consistently updated by the family if they move to a new address.

Students living in the following school districts will have bus transportation to and from Vida Charter school, provided by the district where you live:

• Bermudian Spring School District
• Conewago Valley School District
• Fairfield Area School District
• Gettysburg Area School District
• Hanover Public School District
• Littlestown Area School District
• Upper Adams School District

In addition, Vida provides bus transportation for students in some outlying communities, which may include:

• Mt. Holly Springs
• Chambersburg
• Southwestern
• Spring Grove

A child can only ride on a school bus operated by the district that they live in. The student may be transported only within the boundaries of the district in which they reside. Please contact Vida for more information.

Yes, breakfast and lunch are served in the school cafeteria. Breakfast is free for all students every day. Students may pack lunch or purchase a school lunch. Families are encouraged to apply for Free and Reduced Cost Meals, and many Vida families qualify for free lunch. Vida is part of the National School Breakfast and National School Lunch Programs. School meals must meet Federal meal requirements and the latest Dietary Guidelines. Menus for breakfast and lunch can be found on Vida’s website.

The majority of Vida staff are bilingual, which means that a family who prefers to communicate in Spanish can easily reach out to our office staff, building administrators, support staff and teachers who are fluent in Spanish.

Vida Charter School teachers and staff hold professional certifications similar to those in other public schools in Pennsylvania. Additionally, our teachers are native speakers of the language in which they deliver instruction (Spanish for the Spanish classrooms and English for the English classrooms).

Public charter schools in PA are required to maintain a minimum of 75% of their professional staff properly state certified. This is reported through Annual Charter Report and the 5-year Charter Renewal process. Vida Charter School carefully monitors the certification status of our staff, and ensures that our professional employees hold the appropriate PA certification or are in the process of earning one. 

The average length of time of our current staff members’ service at Vida is approximately 7 years. Of all current employees, 20 out of 36 have been here more than five years, and six employees have served 10 or more years at Vida. While Vida opened in 2010, our staff have a total of 190 years of working at Vida! 

To understand more about the backgrounds of our staff, in terms of highest level of education completed, 37% have earned a Master's Degree, 45% hold a Bachelor's Degree, 11% hold an Associate, and 2 administrators hold doctorates. 26 out of 35 are bilingual.

Vida students are expected to perform at or above grade level in all content areas, while also becoming bilingual and biliterate in English and Spanish. To measure our students’ academic performance in both languages and across all content areas, we use multiple measures including state and local assessments, classroom tests and projects, and teacher observations.

In terms of academic achievement, one way to compare Vida students with their peers in other public schools is by viewing the Future Ready PA Index site linked here where you can compare PSSA (state standardized testing) scores, attendance, and a few other data points.  You can search for Vida, and compare it to other local elementary schools, and/or compare Vida to other Charter Schools in PA. You can view achievement (as demonstrated by percentages of students performing as "proficient" and "advanced"), and you can also see measures of growth. Keep in mind that PSSA data is related to our 3rd-6th grade students’ annual scores in math and English language arts, as well as science for 5th graders.

According to PSSA data alone (measuring students in grades 3-6 only), Vida students on average tend to perform at or above the levels of other local school students in English Language Arts. Vida students’ PSSA math scores are also similar, and at times slightly above or below other local elementary school students. Vida students who identify as Hispanic / Latinx and/or who are identified as English Learners tend to score higher on standardized assessments than their peers at other local schools. English Learners at Vida also develop academic English proficiency at a higher rate compared to the statewide average.

In looking at our students’ academic Spanish literacy and oracy development, as you can imagine their Spanish performance far exceeds that of other local elementary students. From their first day at Vida until they graduate at the end of sixth grade, they are immersed half of their day in Spanish, and supported to develop reading, writing, listening and speaking skills. Our internal assessment of Spanish literacy shows how our students grow and perform throughout each school year. Our sixth grade students have the opportunity to earn a Global Seal of Biliteracy which is an internationally recognized credential for proficiency in two languages. Each year more of our sixth graders earn this prestigious credential, setting them up to pursue higher levels of Spanish coursework at secondary schools and later in college. 

Currently Vida is chartered to serve Kindergarten through sixth grades. After that, families typically enroll their students in the local middle school where they live. Some families opt for private schools or other options. The public school district where a family lives is legally required to enroll any student living in the district. 

We take our students’ transition to middle school very seriously, and we are committed to helping students be well-prepared for middle school in terms of language, academics, attendance, and general preparedness. We work closely with local middle schools, sometimes providing middle school tours for our sixth graders and familiarizing them with the expectations of the district where they live. We also collaborate with the families of our sixth grade graduates, not only complying with records requests but also ensuring that students are given the proper level of challenge and rigor when they start middle school.