Civitas Schools is an education management organization (EMO) founded in 2004 that operates charter schools in Chicago.

Civitas Schools was originally created as a subsidiary of the Chicago Charter School Foundation (CCSF), a non-profit organization that holds a charter with the State of Illinois for the thirteen campuses operating under the name of the Chicago International Charter School (CICS).

In 2002, CCSF received a $4 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for a small high school initiative. This grant was the catalyst for the creation of Civitas Schools which began with operations of CICS Northtown Academy in the fall of 2004.