Queen City STEM School (QCSS) is a charter school in MecklenburgCounty under NC Charter School Law. Charter schools are publicly funded through taxpayer money and privately governed by a non-profit corporation. QSCC has open enrollment with no discrimination, no religious association, and no tuition. QCSS employs an inquiry-based curriculum, which is research-based and has been proven through extensive field studies across the nation. These studies showed that the curriculum has improved student learning and has been found appropriate for all student populations, including at-risk of academic failure and academically-gifted students. QCSS offers free after-school and weekend tutoring prog rams for students who are in need of extra help to pass their classes and tests and prepares its students for regional, statewide, national, and international competitions such as Math Counts, American Mathematics Competitions (AMC), Science Fairs and International Science Olympiads.