Deep in the woods of northern Washington County, 167 elementary students are taking classes at one of Minnesota's newest charter schools.
It's there, in a leafy setting resembling everyone's favorite summer camp, that River Grove has taken root.
"Studying in Wilder Forest is magical. It feels like you're in the wilderness," said volunteer Stephanie LeGros, referring to the school's setting in a conservation area north of Stillwater. "It feels like this place has come alive with the children being here in this beautiful setting."
River Grove, known officially as Marine Area Community School, has built its curriculum on environment, arts, civic involvement and the rich history of nearby Marine on St. Croix. The K-6 school is housed in several cottages leased from Concordia Language Villages.
Many of the children enrolled at River Grove came from two elementary schools in Marine and Hugo that recently closed in a controversial decision by the Stillwater school district. Students also come from Forest Lake, Stillwater, Lake Elmo and Maplewood.
Planning for River Grove began in the spring of 2015, about nine months before the district announced the school closings. One of the founders, parent and board member Kristina Smitten, said they had planned to proceed regardless of the acrimonious closing dispute.
"The start of the charter school wasn't born out of that tension," she said. "It was never that the district is bad and we want something that is good."
But the extended controversy left many "hurt feelings" among parents, said Brian Mader, whose daughter Elizabeth attends first grade at River Grove. Founders of the school worked hard "not to organize it on spite, to resist that urge and really make it about the kids," he said.