After a decade in New York City, Tisha Blackwood-Freitas returned to her Los Banos roots with an idea that could sprout more educational choices in Merced County.</p><p>Blackwood-Freitas, 30, is in the process of writing a charter proposal for the Merced River Charter School, a Waldorf methods-based school that would serve kindergarten through third-grade students and open in either September 2011 or 2012.</p><p>If the school's plan is accepted, it could be the county's first independently run charter school. </p><p>Charter schools are publicly funded schools that aren't subject to the same regulations as traditional public schools and can offer specialized curriculums and teaching methods.</p><p>The charter school movement began in Minnesota in 1991 as a way to give the communities a choice when it came to public education. </p><p>Blackwood-Freitas, a former New York City schoolteacher, said she wanted to create a school in Merced that emphasized agriculture and environmental sustainability in its curriculum.</p><p>"I want my kids to be educated in the way we live in our home," she said. "When you develop a charter school, you can pick and choose the curriculum."</p><p>After researching different types of educational philosophies, Blackwood-Freitas said she settled on the Waldorf philosophy because it teaches to a child's developmental phases.</p><p>She has a handful of other committed Merced River Charter School supporters that consists of parents, teachers and a retired principal to help complete the charter application, a document that outlines the school's philosophy, program, facilities, curriculum and financial plan.</p><p>Since the group plans on developing the school in Merced, it will submit its application to the Merced City School District for approval. </p><p>Meanwhile, the group will raise funds and look for grants from the federal government to help it pay for a location and other elements of its proposed program, Blackwood-Freitas said.</p><p>She said once the charter school in Merced is approved in September or October she's hoping to form a group for such a school in Los Banos.</p><p>"Both schools will emphasize agricultural and environmental sustainability," Blackwood-Freitas said.</p><p>Starting a charter is a group effort, Blackwood-Freitas said. </p><p>"This is a very strong group effort, we work very diligently," she said.</p><p>As an example, Blackwood-Freitas pointed to co-director Rachel Neff-Bracey's efforts in preparing the petition for the Merced school. </p><p>The Merced City School District already operates a charter school, the Fremont Charter School.</p><p>The Fremont Charter School, a pre-existing public school, was founded in 1992 and was one of the first 100 charter schools in California. </p><p>Parents and teachers wanted to transform the traditional public school into a charter so they could have more control over the school's curriculum.</p><p>Greg Spicer, assistant superintendent for the Merced City School District and former principal of Fremont Charter School, said the school emphasizes parent involvement, the arts and science in its charter.</p><p>Fremont Charter School's principal, Trisha Wylie, said the school is funded in a different way from traditional public schools, so it's able to siphon more funds to the arts and sciences.</p><p>Merced County has one other charter school, Merced Scholars, an independent studies school for grades sixth through 12th, operated by the Merced County Office of Education. </p><p>Blackwood-Freitas said she's not looking at the local charter schools as models.</p><p>Rather, she is looking at other Waldorf-inspired schools across the state for guidance.</p><p>Blackwood-Freitas said the public is welcome to offer its input into the formation of the charter school.</p><p>The group holds public meetings from 6 to 7:45 p.m. every second Tuesday at the children's theater of the Merced County Library, 2100 O St.</p><p>For more information on the Merced River Charter School, contact Blackwood-Freitas at (209) 587-4150. </p><p>Reporter Jamie Oppenheim can be reached at (209)385-2407 or joppeheim@</p><p>mercedsun-star.com.</p><p>Reporter Corey Pride contributed to this article.