[peatmoss]

> I'm not sure what this school did to get it right, but it's sad to see it not replicated many times over.

> but you need to apply to go there

It sounds to me as if the school had a filter function to sort the unmotivated (or disadvantaged) out at the gate. If your strategy is to sift though the general population to find exceptional individuals, pretty much by definition you will not be making all schools in the same manner.

I think that's why successful charter schools are so hard to replicate. For every successful charter school, there are some number N that aren't.