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National School Choice Week Archives - North Carolina Coalition for Charter Schools

Jan 27
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National poll: What drives parent choices for a child’s school?

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New polling data out just in time for National School Choice Week (NSCW) 2026 affirms the growing importance of school choice to American families. The poll, from the National School Choice Awareness Foundation, queried 3,960 parents last month, highlighting their searches for a new school and the reasons driving those searches.

According to the poll, 75% of parents with school-aged children considered new schools for their children in 2025. This is a five-year high and an increase from the 60% of parents who said that the year before. Of these parent searchers, 21%, or around 13.3 million, went on to enroll their child in a new learning environment.

Here are some key findings from the poll, according to a press release from the National School Choice Awareness Foundation/ NSCW:

Most parents who enrolled their children in new schools said they were motivated by practical factors rather than dissatisfaction. Common reasons included children entering school for the first time (20%), moving between school levels (26%), or families relocating to a new community (16%). Just 32% cited dissatisfaction with their child’s previous school as the primary reason for enrolling somewhere new.

When selecting new schools, parents who enrolled their children said their top priorities were a safe, supportive school environment (61%), a positive social environment (47%), and a particular educational theme or approach–such as STEM, arts, or faith-based education (39%).

A majority of parents, 62%, said they would be “likely to consider new schools for at least one of their children in 2026,” according to the release.

Read more about the survey here. View the full report here. 

The poll also illuminated parent priorities and information gaps, reflected in survey graphics below.

Survey graphics courtesy of the National School Choice Awareness Foundation/National School Choice Week, January 2026.

Learn more about NSCW by visiting the official website or North Carolina page.

NSCW graphic courtesy of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

Jun 06
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Community Public Charter School Chosen for National Dance Video

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We have exciting news to share about one of our member schools and National School Choice Week (NSCW) in 2025.  Community Charter School, a K-9 public charter school in Stanley, North Carolina, will participate in the dance video launching the national celebration of school choice. Congratulations, CCS!

CCS won the Coalition’s dance video contest for National School Choice Week (NSCW) in 2024. (Read more about that here and here.) CCS created a completely winsome and inspirational video, based on National School Choice Week’s song and dance moves for the year. Dance teacher Christie Stuckey, a former member of East Carolina University’s Dance Team, led school efforts to produce the video. Clips from that video headlined NSCW’s 2024 recap video, with a feature in the national newsletter.

For 2025, NSCW coordinators have asked Ms. Stuckey to make the national video with her students. Each year, coordinators choose a school to record the dance moves for other schools across the country.

Lindalyn Kakadelis, the Coalition’s executive director, recommended CCS and Ms. Stuckey to produce the video for National School Choice Week. Upon hearing of the school’s selection, Ms. Kakadelis said,

I’m delighted Christie Stuckey and her CCS students have been selected to produce the national video in 2025, in celebration of school choice. In 2024, this innovative public charter school captured the true spirit of educational choice in North Carolina and its transformative impact on students. I know they’ll do it for the nation in 2025!

In selecting CCS, LaQuita Hudson, the school participation coordinator for NCSW, said,

We are very excited to work with Ms. Stuckey and her Community Charter School students! They choreographed and recorded an amazing dance performance in 2024. I know they’ll utilize their creativity through our 2025 dance to help us communicate the ideals–and dance moves–of National School Choice Week to schools and supporters all across the country.

Christie Stuckey of CCS said:

Being able to use my passion for dance and students as a career is the ultimate dream job. I can’t say enough how thankful I am for my school and this opportunity we have been given. I’m so excited to create next year’s NSCW dance!

In case you missed it, we’re sharing CCS’s 2024 video below:

Jan 30
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School Choice Week 2024 Recap

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It’s a wrap! National School Choice Week 2024 ended officially on Saturday. The week marked celebrations of school choice around the state and nation. We’re especially proud that our winning dance video for NSCW from Community Public Charter School (CPCS) made it into the national organization’s wrap-up video. We share the video below–as you watch, be on the lookout for CPCS students throughout!

 

More

  • In case you missed it, you can watch the original CPCS video here.
  • Coalition Executive Director Lindalyn Kakadelis has a new op-ed out about parents as the best decision makers in a child’s schooling. Read it here.
Jan 26
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Lindalyn Kakadelis Weighs in on Parent Choice in Education

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Photo credit: National School Choice Awareness Foundation.

Coalition Executive Director Lindalyn Kakadelis has a new op-ed out today in Carolina Journal. The editorial, which highlights the fundamental importance of parent choice in education, coincides with celebrations across the nation this week for National School Choice Week (NSCW).

Here’s an excerpt from Lindalyn’s new commentary:

I have a feeling most people involved in education policy intuitively accept the conclusion that parents should be the final word on what’s best for their child. But I also believe some don’t really understand its implications. You see, if we accept as our guiding principle that final authority rests with parents, then the answer to many of the debates roiling education policy becomes patently obvious.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in the debate over school choice. Should all children have one schooling option, determined by a family’s address? Or should children have multiple schooling options, determined by parents and based on what they think is best?

If our guiding principle is that final word rests with parents, then it stands to reason parents should have options for where to send their children to school — and the more options the better. In this way, the public school system supports, rather than supplants, a parent’s decision-making by offering an array of options for parents to choose from.

That’s what public charter schools offer: another option, often with a curricular concentration, such as STEM or the arts or even a classical focus.

Read the rest of Lindalyn’s editorial here. In addition, if you missed it, you can view the winning video from the Coalition’s dance video contest for NSCW here. It showcases the dance moves of students and faculty from Community Public Charter School. Read more about the winning video in this Coalition blog post.

Jan 23
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We Have a Winner: Coalition Dance Video Contest for NSCW 2024

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As our kick-off for National School Choice Week, we are especially excited this year to announce the winner of the Coalition’s dance video contest!

And the winner is … Community Public Charter School!

On Saturday, we announced Community Public Charter School in Stanley, NC, as the winner of our NSCW dance video contest. Lindalyn Kakadelis, the Coalition’s executive director, broke the happy news to the CPCS Trailblazers in a call the day before. We really loved the video (here or below), and think you will, too. The CPCS video also made it into National School Choice Week’s newsletter yesterday!

Here’s to Community Public Charter School, and the awesome students, faculty, and staff! Dance teacher Christie Stuckey, a former member of East Carolina University’s Dance Team, led efforts to pull the video together. Kudos to Christie and to the CPCS community!

Shannon Parsons of CPCS shared the school’s response to winning the Coalition’s dance video contest:

“We’re still in disbelief! Participating in the School Choice Week’s dance video competition was an honor, and winning feels incredibly humbling. In just over a week, Miss Stuckey’s dance classes practiced, recorded, and nailed the dance, showcasing the dedication of both the teacher and students. This victory reflects the resilience of our school community, and we’re grateful for the opportunity. We look forward to what comes next and eagerly anticipate Miss Stuckey’s creativity for the next school choice week dance contest video!”
Community Public Charter School, the Coalition celebrates your school choice spirit—and your super-slick dance moves!