About PSCS
PSCS has a community-driven culture combined
with real world academics.
with real world academics.
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Pioneer Springs Community School is the only nature based, holistic, tuition-free, public charter school in the Charlotte region. Students learn by being immersed in the stimulating, organic, natural world that surrounds us. Our nature-rich setting is robust with natural learning opportunities in our many gardens, wooded areas, and 2-acre pond. Located off Hwy 115 in the Historic Croft District, near Huntersville, N. Charlotte and UNCC areas.. The campus is also expanding to include all grades within the bucolic stretch of Bob Beatty Road, combining restored historic buildings alongside unique modern learning spaces.
Each year we have grown by a consecutive grade until 2023, when 12th grade will be added, with the first High School graduating class of 2024. The school is small by design, with only two classes per grade and a 1:11 teacher/student ratio. |
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What is a charter School?
Charter schools are public schools of choice that are authorized by the State Board of Education and operated by independent non-profit boards of directors. State and local tax dollars are the primary funding sources for charter schools, which have open enrollment and cannot discriminate in admissions, associate with any religion or religious group, or charge-tuition. Charter schools operate with freedom from many of the regulations that govern district schools, but charter schools are held accountable through the State assessment and accountability system.
Pioneer Springs was born in the spring of 2012 as a grassroots initiative by co-founders Brian Demers, Cheryl Demers, Erik Giles, Abigail Jennings, Randolph Lewis, and Erin McDonald to provide the community with a unique school blending the Basic School model with a curriculum devoted to nature and place-based learning.
The pieces began to fall into place once the school’s location was established in the Historic Croft District of North Charlotte, beginning in the Historic Croft Schoolhouse. Here was the perfect place to stage the founders’ dream of a school promoting connections to nature, history, and community. Pioneer Springs opened in the fall of 2012 as an independent, non-profit elementary school with kindergarten and first grade. Amidst the excitement of their start-up year, they began the rigorous process of becoming a public charter school.
The Fall of 2014 marked Pioneer Springs’ first year as a charter school. A school intentionally small by design with only two classrooms per grade level, Pioneer Springs will always be a close-knit school family, characterized by the same cooperative, volunteer spirit which has been here from the start.
The pieces began to fall into place once the school’s location was established in the Historic Croft District of North Charlotte, beginning in the Historic Croft Schoolhouse. Here was the perfect place to stage the founders’ dream of a school promoting connections to nature, history, and community. Pioneer Springs opened in the fall of 2012 as an independent, non-profit elementary school with kindergarten and first grade. Amidst the excitement of their start-up year, they began the rigorous process of becoming a public charter school.
The Fall of 2014 marked Pioneer Springs’ first year as a charter school. A school intentionally small by design with only two classrooms per grade level, Pioneer Springs will always be a close-knit school family, characterized by the same cooperative, volunteer spirit which has been here from the start.
