What is a Charter School?

As a charter school, Launch is a New York City public school serving the same students served in other public schools. Any student that can attend a public school can sign up to attend Launch.  Because Launch receives many more applications than it has seats available, we run a public lottery in April each year to determine enrollment.

Launch is publicly funded and independently run through a not-for-profit corporation and our Boards of Trustees. Launch exists thanks to our charter from the New York State Department of Education (NYSED), which was granted in 2010 and must be periodically renewed. 

Like all other New York charter schools, we are governed by the NY State Charter Schools Act of 1998, the bylaws of our Board of Trustees and New York State Municipal and Not-For-Profit laws.