Princeton Charter School is a K-8 charter school in Princeton Township, in Mercer County, New Jersey, serving students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
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The school is the only public school in either Princeton Township, New Jersey or the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey which is not operated by the Princeton Regional Schools district.
The school is one of over fifty schools opened under charters granted since 1997 by the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Education. These schools operate independently of local Boards of Education, being funded on a per student basis by locally-raised tax revenues. It is accredited by the American Academy for Liberal Education.
During the 2004-05 school year, Princeton Charter School was awarded the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education, the highest award an American school can receive.[1]
Admission is determined by lottery open to all students. The school has had two headmasters. The founding Head was Charles Marsee. After eleven years, he was followed by Dr. Broderick Boxley. After the end of the 2009-2010 school year, Dr. Boxley left the school. Lawrence Patton is the head of school, Dr Alexander Mui manages 5–8, Gail Wilber leads k-4.
Students are separated into two buildings. Grades K-4 are in the lower and newer building. which was rebuilt and completed in 2004 after it burned down during construction. In the future PCS plans on doubling the size of grades K-4 and splitting them into sections; A and B. (This has already been done for grades 3 and 4.)Grades 5-8 are in the upper building, each grade having 2 sections; A and B. The library is located in the lower building. An addition to the 5-8 building including an auditorium, a gym, an art room, a music room, and a classroom, was recently completed in early 2010. The school has approximately 340 students, although the "waiting list" is significant.
Academics is very important to the school. Approximately 70-80% of the 8th grade graduating class moves on to Princeton High School, while others go to private preparatory schools, such as The Lawrenceville School. There have been students from PCS admitted to the School of American Ballet, The Peddie School, Phillips Andover Academy, Phillips Exeter Academy, and several other private high schools. The school is a Blue Ribbon school and has been rated one of the best charter schools and public schools in the nation. Normally, the school is ahead of the regional school district in their curriculum by one or two years. Every year the students take 2 standardized tests, the NJ ASK (used in public schools) and the Educational Records Bureau CTP's (used in independent schools). During the 2007-2008 school year, its 8th grade was ranked 1st in the state for the science curriculum.
Students taking either Advanced French or Beginner French may participate in "Le Grand Concours", a French knowledge contest, every year. They usually compete in the top ten in state and national with 1 or 2 national winners. As of 2009, students taking Spanish take the National Spanish Exam. The foreign language programs, especially Advanced French, are normally a year or two ahead of the regional schools.
The sixth graders go on a trip to Camp Ralph S. Mason. and the eighth graders go to Washington D.C.
Mark Papp, the athletic director, started work at PCS in the fall of 2000. Fall athletics are soccer (co-ed), field hockey (Primarily girls, although one boy played for the team in 2009), and cross country (co-ed). Winter sports are limited to basketball (boys and girls - separated), and spring sports are limited to lacrosse (boys and girls - separated), although a co-ed softball team may be opened in the future with enough student body support. The school colors are red and black, used for numerous school-related activities, including "Field Day," and the school mascot is a hawk.