One of the city's newest charter schools opened this morning.

Shearwater High welcomed about 80 students to the long front hall of Ranken Technical College, at Newstead and Page in north St. Louis.

It is just the first of several charters to open this year in the city. Together, they are a key part of the city's drive to improve public schooling, reduce crime and unemployment, and attract new families and businesses.

But Shearwater is also unique. It specifically targets the kids who cause problems in cities across the country -- those who have dropped out, who are homeless, who have been arrested, or who just haven't been able to make it in traditional schools.

Shearwater aims to give them a combination of academics, work skills and life tutoring to get them out of school quickly and into the workforce, or college, said founder and CEO Stephanie Krauss.

Past attempts at such charter schools have struggled. They are expensive, and the students often need more help than leaders first expect.

Students at Shearwater this morning seemed to know it. They were hopeful, but also hesitant, skeptical.

Leaders, on the other hand, did not stumble.

"This is your opportunity to make $1 million," the charter board's President Lt. Gen. Gary Hughey, a retired U.S. Marine, told students.

"You've got to start somewhere."