It is the first question almost every family asks, usually in a careful voice, because it sounds like there must be a catch. There is not one. Academy Del Sol is a tuition-free public charter school, kindergarten through eighth grade, at both our Tucson campuses.
Tuition-free means what it says. Families do not pay tuition for a K-8 seat. Not a reduced rate, not a scholarship you have to qualify for, not a sliding scale based on what you earn.
Why a charter school can do that
A charter school is a public school. It is open to every family, and it charges no tuition. The funding comes from the state, through dollars that follow each student, exactly as it does at any other public school in Arizona.
So what makes a charter different? How it is run, and what it builds the day around. In our case, that is fine arts woven through everything, plus a K-8 school where your child stays put.
So the money question has a boring answer, which is the best kind of answer. We are a public school. Public schools do not charge tuition.
What families still pay for
Being straight about this matters more than sounding generous. Like any school, we have costs outside tuition. Field trips. Some performance costumes. Optional after-school programs. Spirit wear.
Still, these are small and they are occasional. And we never keep a child out of a core part of the school day over one.
What this is not
We are not a private school with financial aid. We are not a program you test into. We are not a district school you are assigned to by address. Any Tucson family can choose Academy Del Sol, whatever zip code you live in.
If you want the longer version of how charter schools work in Arizona, we wrote that one out in plain terms. And if you are weighing whether an arts school keeps up academically, that question gets its own answer in fine arts school academics in Tucson.
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