Hopes a new online school will help students struggling in a traditional classroom

Aotearoa Infinite Academy will open in January as the country's first fully online charter school.

Two other new charter schools announced today - Te Aratika High School in Hawke's Bay and Wellington's Altum Academy.

Founding Principal Saira Boyle says the timing is right for such learning.

She says currently, more than 80-thousand students are chronically truant - and she hopes the school will help close the widening equity gap.