Two schools' paths demonstrate joy, pain of charter model

As one Minnesota charter school's star rises, another fades. Two schools reveal the complexities of the system – a once innovative idea – in Minnesota.

The nation's first charter school opened in Minnesota in 1992. The hope behind the innovation was to give teachers the opportunity to experiment. Since the first one, approximately 271 charter schools have opened in the state. And nearly 100 have closed.

Dave Heighington is the director of Exploration High School, which opened in northeast Minneapolis in 2021. Exploration is a project-based school with about 150 students in grades nine through 12. While Exploration has grown and continues to, Upper Mississippi Academy – a charter school in downtown St. Paul – was forced to make the hard choice of closing after 11 years of operation.

Many students and teachers get caught up in the churn of charter school closures. What happens to them when schools grow? And when schools close?