Natalie Christley, a lifelong resident of North Carolina, originally intended to send her two children to traditional public school. Herbert Atkins Elementary, near her home in Holly Springs, had small classes and above-average test scores—exactly what she was looking for. Then, a few years before Christley’s son was due to start kindergarten, the Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) reassigned her children away from their base schools. So Christley started looking at her options.