This Fort Worth charter school will close due to competition, declining enrollment

Lena Pope’s Chapel Hill Academy, a public charter school in southwest Fort Worth, is closing at the end of August, school officials said in a Friday announcement.

The tuition-free school located on Sycamore School Road serves students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade and opened in 2008. After 16 years, it will close its doors on Aug. 31 due to the increase of other charter schools in the area and the decrease in Chapel Hill Academy’s enrollment starting in 2019, officials said.

“This, paired with shifts in educational funding, has posed significant challenges. In response, Lena Pope’s leadership and advisors have conducted thorough evaluations and sought various remedies to sustain enrollment. Despite these extensive efforts, it has become clear that Lena Pope must make the incredibly tough decision to close CHA effective August 31, 2024,” officials said in a statement.

Lena Pope CEO Ashley Elgin said administration will support families during the transition through a school enrollment fair while helping school staff find another position within the nonprofit organization or find new employment opportunities.

It was noted that other programs within Lena Pope, which offers counseling, behavioral and early childhood services to children and families, are still thriving.

“The demand for mental health services and early childhood education has grown exponentially, and these are areas where Lena Pope can fill a vital gap, providing support and services that are currently in short supply. We are entering a phase where our resources and expertise in these service areas need to be expanded, and we remain financially solvent and capable of investing in high demand services as we enter this transition,” Elgin said.