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On a hillside in Babice, a small town about 30 kilometers (18 miles) southeast of Prague, a cluster of sleek, modern buildings stands in stark contrast to the terra cotta rooftops of the rest of the village.

"The teaching is very high-quality," comments Aris Matarangas, 15, during a recent lunch break near the on-campus dorms. "They really know how to teach you. They help you get a better place in life."

Miroslav Palas, a 13-year-old student, agrees, adding, "I like the teachers, too, but most I like the dormitories." This year, students were able to choose their roommates. "I think I have made a good choice," Miroslav says.

Although boarding schools are often thought of as the domain of the wealthy, Open Gate has adopted a unique approach to shaping its student body. Many of the 128 children enrolled here are able to study at the school because of either a complete or partial scholarship from the Educa Foundation, an organization founded by Czech billionaire Petr Kellner and his wife, Renata Kellnerová, that is dedicated to improving education for socially disadvantaged youth.

Open Gate was built between 2002 and 2005 by PPF financial group, a company owned by Kellner.

"Every rich person is thinking about where to put his or her money," explains Dita Fuchsová, manager of external communications at Open Gate. "A school for clever children from poor families or poor conditions is an excellent idea. Nobody has taken care of these children before."

Currently, the school is at capacity, but Fuchsová says spaces will open up in 2009.

During the 2005–06 school year, 100 of Open Gate's 111 students received support from Educa, totaling 46 million Kč ($2.1 million). Of those 100 students, 11 came to the school from foster care, two from the Klokánek Centre of the Fund for Children in Need, three from foster families and 39 from single-parent families. Of the 16 students who were admitted for study this school year, 13 have the entirety of their 47,000 Kč monthly tuition covered by the foundation.

Ondřej Gabriel, a spokesman for the Education Ministry, says Open Gate receives a state subsidy. Gabriel, however, won't address the ministry's general opinion of the boarding school.

"I don't want to and I am not able to answer this question," he says. "The school is registered in the register of schools. That's all."

The school's curriculum, according to Fuchsová, meets all the requirements imposed by the ministry. In their final year of study, students will prepare to write the state Maturita exams.

"Because of the mission of the school," Open Gate Director Petr Albrecht notes, "we were not looking for the top academic students but for the students with potential, because we know that some of our students are from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, and their current academic level might be influenced by the background they're coming from."

Admission to the school is based on a three-part entrance process that includes two tests and a half-hour interview. The school recruits prospective students by taking out ads in newspapers and getting in contact with local governments and social workers, Fuchsová says.

"I have been stunned at this school by the level of English and the level of understanding the children have," says Peter Nitsche, head of the English department. Nitsche has been at Open Gate since August, and previously taught at several high schools in the Czech Republic, as well as at schools in the United Kingdom.

Richard Seccombe, another member of the school's English department, shares this opinion of the students' abilities. "[Teaching at Open Gate] is not a lot different from teaching at schools in England, at this level," he says, referring to a class of older students.

Naďa Černá contributed to this report.