It may be less than two miles from principal Josh Klaris' former elementary school, PS 183, to the brand-new DREAM Charter School—opening today with a visit by Chancellor Joel Klein—but the challenges of opening a charter school in East Harlem differ greatly from managing a thriving, Upper East Side elementary school, where the PTA raises about $300,000 a year.

The DREAM school draws its students, by lottery, largely from Manhattan's District 4. In a new spin on the collaborative-team-teaching model, which pairs gen-ed and special-needs teachers in a shared classroom, each of DREAM's four classes is led by two instructors—one general-education and one certified to teach English as a Second Language or Special Education. The curriculum revolves around University of Pittsburgh's Dr Lauren Resnick's Nine Principles of Learning(which marry educational goals and business practices) and with a strong focus on health and wellness (including an on-staff bilingual social worker). One of the school's eight teachers is Jerry Phillip, ex- of the embattled charter Ross Global Academy, which spent its first year at Tweed under the DOE's watchful eye.

The DREAM charter school, which opens with 100 kindergarten and first-grade students, will eventually grow up to eighth grade, adding a class a year as children 'age up.' The school is an outgrowth of Harlem RBI's nearly two decades in community recreation, education and enrichment; Harlem RBI founder Richard Berlin sits on the school's Board, along with Skadden, Arps counsel Josh Goldstein and Eric Wiengartner, the executive director of the Mayor's Office of Comprehensive Neighborhood Economic Development.

Lottery admissions limit enrollment; it's not known whether younger siblings will enjoy enrollment preferences or be part of the general applicant pool. How the school fares in its first year will determine future demand—and shape its future as an East Harlem institution.