I always wanted to be a teacher. Since the age of five, it has been my life-long dream,” said Cammie Montgomery, principal of East End Heritage Community School.

Montgomery began teaching in the backyard of her home while living in the suburbs of Cincinnati. She grew up in a privileged home surrounded by a community of underprivileged families. Montgomery was said to be the smartest kid on the block because she had been sent to a private school.

She became the principal and a founder of the East End school when approached by community members who wanted a school in their community that would serve their children. The school has about 170 students in grades K-12. It has been operating for more than two years.

The school operates through many partnerships and sponsors with the community and local universities, such as the University of Cincinnati. To operate a community school, the local community has to be provide support.

“Finding space is one of the biggest challenges for community schools when they are getting started,” Montgomery said.

East End is a wartime building, made of old brick and crumbling walls. The facility is being leased from the Cincinnati Public Schools, but it took a great deal of work to bring it up to code. Area businesses that were remodeling offered used desks, tables and chairs to the school. A local bookstore donated several bookshelves to the school, which does not have a gym or library. There are no lockers for students.

The school employs 23 people including teachers and other administrative staff.

“The teachers are here, not for the money, but because they want to make a difference, so my teachers are not worried about a contract; they know they have to build trust with these kids. They sit down and have lunch with their kids, instead of 30 minutes of uninterrupted lunch time,” Montgomery said.

The few employees of East End will do what is necessary to get the children to school each day, including picking them up at their houses.

Transportation is the second challenge of community schools. East End had trouble lining up transportation and the teachers of East End offered their vehicles and their time to pick up the children each morning until proper transportation was established. Buses from local public schools to bring the children to East End. This is another example of a partnership that community schools have with local school districts.

“We have these kids just as much, if not more than their parents, and we have to be a positive influence on them,” said Lori Blaine, a teacher at East End. “I want to be that one teacher that will make the want to push and gives them the drive to do more.”

Community schools afford more creativity to teachers than do traditional schools.

“Traditional schools are stuck to scripts. I couldn’t do what they wanted, so I came here,” said Carrie Roberts, a teacher at East End.

A major challenge for charter schools is funding. Community schools get their funding through the local school districts, which get money from the state. About $4,600 is spent per pupil in Ohio. That money will follow a child to any school he or she wants to attend. If a child is not happy in the environment of a public school, he or she must retract enrollment.

“Once the funding follows the child, as it does in the community school model, the parents of these kids will be empowered to choose their child’s school which will create political pressure on the existing schools to focus on improving their performance,” said former state representative Mike Fox.

Community schools are also funded based on a percentage of their projected students. Each month, administrators must submit their enrollment to the Education Management Information System, which allows for uniform data collection by the Ohio Department of Education. The system provides the ODE the basis on which to provide all state and federal funding to Ohio’s schools.

“We have a hurdle with funding. We are out there trying to find additional money through grants and other means,” Montgomery said.

The teachers and staff of East End wear many different hats. Montgomery teaches class along with her principal duties. Many of the teachers hold night classes and have visits to students’ homes. School board members were scrubbing toilets to get the school ready for its opening.

“A charter school is a public school, but it’s another choice. We are a school of choice because not every school is good for every child,” Montgomery said.

Students at East End come from the local community as well, as from outside the city. Eliot Erickson, a student at East End, travels 26 miles each way to attend the school.

“I have Tourette’s syndrome. The disease makes it hard to go to traditional schools, especially when the teachers are not supportive, and the classes are really large. I get more individualized attention at East End, I enjoy coming here. This was pretty much my last chance to come to a real school,” Erickson said.

Last year, East End graduated 10 seniors, up from just one senior their first year in operation.