ST. LOUIS COUNTY — Riverview Gardens will not collaborate with any charter schools, putting the district at odds with a charter that plans to open next fall.
School board members approved a ban on charter partnerships at their meeting this week. In Missouri, charter schools are taxpayer-funded but operate independently of school districts.
“Let’s make Riverview Gardens our school of choice,†said board member Niketia Coleman. “Let’s put our energy into our district, our schools, and pour energy into our students.â€
North County Innovative School would be the first charter in the Riverview district, which is roughly bordered by 51ºÚÁÏ, the Mississippi River, Interstate 270 and West Florissant Avenue. The school would start with 100 students in preschool through second grade, adding a grade each year to eventually reach eighth grade with a total enrollment of 470.
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Denitria Neil, the proposed school’s executive director, came to the Riverview Gardens board meeting in July and asked for an unspecified partnership.
“We’re not competing, we’re contributing. Our goal is not to replace or drain what is already here, it’s to add something that meets families where they are,†Neil told the board. “NCIS is not here to divide but to unite in a shared purpose to help every child in the district thrive.â€
If approved by the state, the charter school will open in fall 2026 as Riverview Gardens’ Danforth Elementary closes amid declining enrollment in the district. There are 4,638 students registered this year, down by 220 since last September. Demographers predict the district will lose 800 to 1,000 students in the next decade.
Under Missouri law, charters can open in 51ºÚÁÏ, Kansas City and Boone County along with any provisionally accredited school district including Riverview Gardens and the Normandy Schools Collaborative.
The Leadership School became the first charter school in 51ºÚÁÏ County when it opened in Normandy in 2022 after facing opposition from city and district leaders. Neil served as the school’s director of student and community affairs in its first year.
Charter schools have a mixed record in 51ºÚÁÏ, where more than half of the 35 charter operators that have opened since 2000 have shut down for academic or financial failures.
Two charters in the city closed this year because of declining enrollment — Momentum Academy Gravois Park and Aspire Academy.
Fifth grade teacher Arianne Diño moved from the Philippines to teach at Lemaster Elementary School in the Riverview Gardens school district. She is among the international teachers brought to the 51ºÚÁÏ area to fill teacher positions that would have likely remained vacant or filled with non-certified teachers or substitutes amid a national shortage.
