HILLSBOROUGH- A new charter school is coming to Orange County. The Expedition School is slated to open in Hillsborough in August.

According to the school’s website, the curriculum will focus on project-based learning as well as science, technology, engineering and math, also known as STEM education. The Expedition School will be located at the Eno River Mill on Dimmock’s Mill Road in Hillsborough.

The school will operate on a year-round schedule. Multi-age classrooms will serve 230 children from Kindergarten through 6th grade initially, with expansion to 8th grade planned within three years.

Charter schools are publically funded, but operate outside the purview of local school boards. The North Carolina Board of Education approved 26 new charter schools this week as part of a statewide expansion, bringing the total to 157.

The Expedition School will be the third charter in Orange County, and the first to open since the state lifted its cap on charters in 2011.

Admission to charter schools is granted through a lottery. The Expedition School is currently accepting applications through the end of the month and the lottery will take place in February.

If you’d like to find out more about The Expedition School, officials will host an information session Sunday at 2 o’clock at the Chapel Hill Public Library.