Charter schools are coming to Kalispell

Flathead and Glacier high schools are moving forward with charter school rollouts after gaining approval from the Montana Board of Public Education in January.

The two high schools will begin gauging student interest as registration for the 2024-25 school year gets underway this week and next week. Flathead Assistant Principal Andrew Stiger and Glacier Assistant Principal Alan Stanfield said they’ll have students indicate interest in attending the public charters to get an idea of enrollment numbers and staffing needs. Both charters will share staff with Flathead and Glacier high schools. 

Each charter needs to enroll a minimum of 41 students to receive basic entitlement funding from the state. What classes are offered will be driven by the number of students who enroll. Enrollment is on a first-come, first-served basis and is open to students statewide, with preference given to in-district students. Under state public charter school requirements, a lottery is held if more students enroll than can be accommodated. Administrators anticipate that enrollment will primarily come from the existing student population versus drawing in an influx of out-of-district students.