Traditional public schools and charter schools are sometimes presented as a stark dichotomy: broad education vs. specialized programs, neighborhood communities vs. citywide enrollment. Those generalizations are sometimes correct, but not all charters fit the mold.

For example, there’s City Garden Montessori, which was featured in the South Side Journal:

Any parent can stop by during the course of the day and they often do as most live nearby, said Michelle Marshall, the school’s family support coordinator.

The school has a preference for neighborhood students written into its charter. It seeks children living between Interstate 64 and Magnolia Avenue and Grand and Kingshighway boulevards in the Botanical Heights, Forest Park Southeast, Shaw, Southwest Garden and Tiffany neighborhoods.

Here’s a charter that wants to draw children from the surrounding area, like most public schools do, but that is innovative in other ways. City Garden offers a Montessori curriculum in both its preschool (which was established several years ago) and its new elementary school. I’m impressed, because many schools drop the Montessori focus by first or second grade, when it’s harder to put into practice.

The Post-Dispatch and Suburban Journals are doing a great job of profiling the area’s charter schools and illustrating what’s unique about each one. Stay tuned as new charters open!