Enrolling Now for 2026-27 School Year.
Enrolling Now for 2026-27 School Year.
Cyber charter schools offer a truly flexible option for Pennsylvania families whose schedules do not fit into a school’s traditional hours of operation, as well as for students who need more than they are getting at their local public school. At a PA cyber school, like Commonwealth Charter Academy® (CCA), students in grades K through 12 who are Pennsylvania residents receive a customized online education that they complete at their own pace at a time convenient for the family, all at no cost.
You can enroll from any county and every school district in Pennsylvania.
You can enroll your child in a cyber school at no cost to you if you are a Pennsylvania resident because cyber charter schools are public schools, just independently operated. Just as you don’t pay tuition at a public school, you don’t pay tuition at a public cyber charter school. You also have access to all of the learning materials and technology, without fees.
Cyber charter schools are funded through public tax dollars, just like other public schools. When your child enrolls in a Pennsylvania cyber charter school, funding is directed through the state’s charter school funding formula to support your child’s education.
CCA is an accredited school with state-certified teachers, experienced special education teachers, and caring staff. Like all state public schools, we follow Pennsylvania academic and financial reporting standards and are overseen by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
CCA is a public cyber charter school available at no cost to families and is accredited by the Middle States Association Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools. During the accreditation process, CCA conducts a self-evaluation to demonstrate compliance with the MSA’s standards.
The Middle States accreditation is recognition that CCA offers students in grades K through 12 a quality education that can be reciprocated with other schools, and it validates the value of CCA’s education to other accredited institutions.
For more than 125 years, the Middle States Association has been helping schools establish and reach their educational goals and advance student achievement. As an accredited online public school, CCA is committed to maintaining those high educational standards and to seeking continual improvement in student learning.
In addition to accreditation, CCA has been named a High School of the Year and a Guard Friendly School by the Pennsylvania National Guard Associations (PNGAS). We have also received the Exceptional Charter School in Special Education designation. We’re one of only 18 charter schools across the country to be recognized this way. Our educational video content has won a Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award and 15 other prestigious awards.
CCA is one of only a handful of schools in the state to be recognized as a Purple Star School by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
Students in Pennsylvania who attend public school must do so in the district where they live. Students in grades K through 12 cannot choose to attend another public school outside of those boundaries unless they and their families move and establish residence in that other district.
As a way to expand choices in the types of educational opportunities available within the public school system, the Pennsylvania Legislature authorized brick-and-mortar charter schools in 1997 and permitted the establishment of public cyber charter schools in 2002.
Charter schools are independent public schools established and operated under a charter from the local school board and located in a physical space within the borders of that school district. Cyber charter schools, on the other hand, are independent public schools established and operated under a charter from the state Department of Education. Most of their instruction is delivered through the internet or other electronic means.
Until 1997, Pennsylvania students who attended public school between elementary and high school needed to attend the public schools in the district where they lived. The Pennsylvania Legislature then authorized charter schools, which were independent, brick-and-mortar schools operating within a school district under a charter issued by the local school board. In 2002, the Pennsylvania Legislature authorized public cyber charter schools, which are chartered through the PA Departmentment of Education.
Charter schools can provide tailored learning from the comfort of your home and schedules that accommodate special needs or interests. A cyber charter school offers several additional advantages over other no-tuition public schools:
Because charter schools and cyber charter schools are independently operated public schools, they do not charge students tuition. The district of residence of each enrolled student must forward most of the tax dollars it receives for that individual student to the charter or cyber charter school in which the student is enrolled. The amount of funding a charter school receives is based upon a statutory funding formula, which requires tuition rates for both non-special and special education students.
Pennsylvania law establishes a payment schedule for school districts to send the student funding to charter and cyber charter schools. If a district fails to do so, the law contains provisions for the state to deduct the funding and provide it to the charter schools.
Accredited online public schools need to keep the lights and heat on in multiple buildings every day for their teachers and administrators – just like brick-and-mortar schools. They also have operational expenses, including developing customized curricula, supporting and updating all the required technology, operating Family Service Centers and maintaining a full complement of state-certified teachers and all of the requisite support staff.
Every family in Pennsylvania is unique, and many of them find that their local, one-size-fits-all school district is not right for their child.
It might be because a child needs extra academic help or needs accelerated learning but the pace of their education stays the same despite their individual needs. Perhaps a child is being bullied at a school in Pennsylvania and parents feel they have no recourse. In other neighborhoods, it might be too dangerous to walk to school. Some children have obligations to care for younger siblings or older relatives, and still others are pursuing a sport or artistic endeavor that is impossible to pursue with a traditional school schedule.
All of these families can benefit from a public cyber charter school like CCA at no cost. We put the family at the center of the educational experience. The maximum flexibility for students in grades K through 12 allows families to decide what time is best for learning. CCA students can take a real-time virtual class or they can watch a recording of it when it’s suitable for them. That frees time for internships, practices, family trips, and any other passion a student wants to follow.
As an accredited online school, CCA recognizes that our students come with different skills, abilities, and needs. CCA works with families to customize their child’s education, and our teachers are ready to provide extra help or advanced online learning in any subject, whichever a student needs.
And it all takes place from the safety and comfort of your own home.
CCA is a public cyber charter school available at no cost to families that provides a quality education at your child’s pace and on your family’s schedule…how school should work.
At CCA, we recognize that a tailored approach is a benefit at every age:
If you’re a family ready to let your child thrive in our accredited online school, you can start your application by filling out this form – all you need is your name and an email address.
We’ll then send you a secure enrollment link. The application takes about 15 minutes, and you can save and close it at any time. Once you submit the application, a member of the CCA enrollment team will work with you to provide us with the required documents.
After documents have been successfully submitted, we will schedule your family for a virtual Great Start Orientation Session, which gives new CCA families a comprehensive overview of parent, student, and staff responsibilities in your new, no-cost cyber charter school.
If you are interested in learning more about CCA, contact a CCA parent to hear about their experience. Ready to get started? Enroll today!
A CCA cyber school education helps students gain the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to succeed.
Enrolling Now for 2026-27 School Year.
