A national charter school heavyweight company is considering opening its third Toledo building.

Imagine Schools, a for-profit company that manages 75 charter schools in 12 states, is in site negotiations for the proposed school, which would have an environmentally focused curriculum, regional director Marlene Mills said. The company is also still finalizing a sponsor for the school, which probably would open next fall.

Ms. Mills would not say what building Imagine Schools is considering nor state a potential initial enrollment.

Imagine Schools runs Clay Avenue Community School in North Toledo and the Madison Avenue School of Arts in the Uptown District.

The two schools, despite low student test scores, have grown rapidly; Ms. Mills said the pair's combined enrollment tops 1,000 students, making the schools some of the biggest in Toledo.

"A lot of those kids really need a choice in their education," she said. "That's what we are doing."

Although both schools were listed last year on state school report cards as in academic watch -- the equivalent of a D grade -- the schools received A's on the company's own scoring system. Most of the students at the company's two Toledo schools come in academically behind where they should be, said Ms. Mills, and internal testing shows the majority of their students achieve more than a year's worth of academic growth.

The schools either met or exceeded growth expectations last year, according to the Ohio Department of Education's value-added measurements.

Imagine Schools, which is based in Arlington, Va., initially met controversy in its first foray into Toledo.

The company's move into the former Zenobia Shrine temple on Madison Avenue was vetoed in 2007 by then-Mayor Carty Finkbeiner, but Toledo City Council voted to override that veto.

Contact Nolan Rosenkrans at: nrosenkrans@theblade.com or 419-724-6086.

First Published November 1, 2011, 4:15 a.m.