East Mountain High School is a charter school. A charter school is a public school developed by one or more parents, teachers or community members authorized by a local school board or the New Mexico Public Education Commission to provide an alternative educational setting to parents and students in the public school system. Charter schools provide an opportunity to create new, innovative and more flexible ways of educating children.

Charter schools must describe their goals and how they will meet them in their charter, a document which must be approved by a local or state board every five years. Charter schools are held accountable to meeting the goals set out in their charters. East Mountain High School’s third charter, governing the years 2010 – 2015, was recently approved by the New Mexico Public Education Commission.