Nine Baltimore City school teachers, all of whom formerly worked at Morrell Park Elementary/Middle School, banded together two years ago to create The Green School of Baltimore, a free, public charter elementary school in Remington that will open in the fall.

Located for the next two years in Kromer Hall, behind the Church of the Guardian Angel at 2629 Huntingdon Ave., The Green School will begin with single kindergarten, first-and second-grade classes this year and then add third, fourth and fifth grades over the next three years. The school, accepting only 60 student this year, is already wait-listing kindergartners and is close to full for the other two grades.

Eventually, the school plans to enroll 240 students as a full K-5 program and move to larger, permanent quarters.

The way Green School Principal Kate Primm describes it, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Bay School program almost worked too well at Morrell. Started in September 2001 and lasting through June 2004, the program fostered an integrated approach to teaching around hands-on environmental activities, Primm said.

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The students learned to apply reading, writing, mathematics, science and social studies lessons to their bluebird house, trail and wetland building projects.

However, when the program ended, the teachers decided it was time to take the techniques and launch their own school.

“Good administrators and principals end up moving a lot because of the difficult nature of the job and teachers follow them and move quite a bit, too,” Primm said. “We wanted a place where we could sink roots and create our own history where kids could come back and visit their school.”

Sherrie Buckley, The Green School’s kindergarten teacher, said it was also important to the founding teachers — several of whom live in the same Remington, Hampden, Charles Village and Waverly neighborhoods where the majority of the registered children live — that they create an institution that is representative of their diverse community.

Virginia Richard, a former Waverly Elementary teacher who is teaching at Parkville High in Baltimore County this fall, lives in the city, supports public education and is sending her daughter Madeline, 5, to The Green School.

She said she’s excited to see her child at a racially, socially and economically diverse school that is not overwhelming.

“It doesn’t look like a school yet, it looks like church basement, and I know there will be some hiccups at first,” Richard said after a parent-teacher conference last week.

“And going to a first-year charter school is an act of faith, but I believe in the curriculum and the instructors. “

rcassie@baltimoreexaminer.com