38° and Patchy rain nearby
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Niagara Falls families have a school choice. It is no longer about springing for Catholic School tuition to Cardinal O’Hara, Canisius, St. Joe’s, Niagara Catholic or Stella Niagara or trusting a public school system struggling with myriad issues fomented by impoverished students and a myopic administration.
Charter School for Applied Technology, based in Kenmore, has opened enrollment for Niagara Falls students with busing and no tuition. Funding will come from the Niagara Falls City School District.
The deadline for application is April 1. The school educates students in kindergarten through 12. It has openings for 2026-27 in K-5. Applications, and more information are online at https://www.csat-k12.org Students are admitted in a lottery system that gives a weighted advantage to students with English as a second language or special needs.
Both those populations are under-represented, according to the State entity that grants a charter.
CSAT reports a high school graduation rate of 97.5%. Niagara Falls is reporting 87%.
Dated data from US News and World Report reports Niagara Falls High School is at 85% when CSAT was 93%. The site did not offer an easily discernible source for its statistics.
The Charter school sees the world differently as Niagara Falls has begun to do, focusing on career development and pathways to trades and professional career paths in addition to college.
Summers at CSAT bring a chance for a 7-week Academy through SUNY Erie, exposing students who participate to academia and educating them about their options in the world. Think of it as the summer equivalent to the Niagara Falls Say Yes Saturday academies.
CSAT’s sports mascot is the Eagles. It has a full scholastic athletic program. The Eagle’s name is RALPH. That is an acronym: Respect; Accountability; Leadership; Perseverance; and Honesty.
It’s all part of the “Early College and Career Pathways” program that is a big enrollment draw for the multi-cultural school.
So what could this mean to Niagara Falls Schools economically? CSAT has committed to one bus. A standard school bus holds 72 passengers.
How much Niagara Falls will pay to CSAT is the answer of a complicated mathematical formula offered by the charter school. The math offered by CSAT is in a pdf attached to this article.
The bottom line? $14,206 per student. Let’s say 40 students enroll. That would create $568,240 in revenue taken from a NFCSD budget of $202.8 million or about .28% of school district revenue.
