Student-Parent-Teacher Conferences

ANSER school in Boise has been includeding students (all the way down to Kindergarten) in its parent conferences. The child is the leader of the conversation; there is a self-evaluation form to help structure the process. This article in the NY Times points to student-parent-teacher conferences as a growing trend, and a means to get families involved in the child's education. This is the kind of choice for how Palouse Prairie will do school that you can expect the Principal and teachers to be making Spring 2009.

School location changes to Browns Furniture facility

Today at a meeting of the Idaho Public Charter School Commission, Palouse Prairie School received approval to change its first choice location from Now and Then Antiques to Browns' Furniture at 105 Lauder St. This facility is more central in the city, is a newer building, and offers the school substantially more space at an affordable price

A group of UI students have been working on ideas for the remodel of the Browns space. Their final presentations are open to the public. They will be held Monday, December 15th
2:30 to 5:30 PM at the University of Idaho College of Art and Architecture's Shop Critique space (a small building across the walkway to the south of the Idaho Commons).

Students are looking forward to sharing their design concepts for the adaptive re-use of the former Brown's Furniture building into the new Palouse Prairie School for Expeditionary Learning charter school. Please pass the word to other community members that also might like to attend. Please RSVP to Miranda Anderson (mirandaa@uidaho.edu) for planning purposes. Thank you!

Below are my comments addressed to the commission this AM

Comments to Commission Dec 11, 2008

Thank you chairman for a chance the address a change in the Palouse Prairie School’s petition

Let me start with a roll call of Board members.
Ashley Ater-Kranov
Lahde Forbes
Kirsten LaPaglia
Daniela Monk


While being on the phone has certain disadvantages, it does provide a means for more of our board to participate in your meeting, which we appreciate.

We lost two board members, Sterk and Granja, in November but anticipate adding a new person tonight. You may recall our skills matrix from June. The members we lost had experience in K-12 education and with Idaho Standards. The new member who has applied has similar experience. This leaves us one vacancy (our max board is 7) and we are having conversations with a person with bookkeeping and budgeting experience. Our goal is to use our skills matrix in selecting new members to ensure diversity and capture more of the qualities that you have broadly described as “business people.”

I’d like to report on good news since we last met and before we get to the matter at hand.

I already reported on our 501.c.3 status, achieved with the help of board member Lahde Forbes. In August we received $100,000 from the JA and Kathryn Albertson Foundation. In November we were notified that our Federal Startup grant was funded by the State Department of Education. Year 1 is $200,000 and the total is $671,000.

We have been getting some valuable Board development and other aid from John LeCavalier the Expeditionary Learning school designer assigned to our school. Kirsten LaPaglia and I are just back from an EL regional leadership conference held in Oakland. What struck me most about that event was to sit in a room of a dozen EL principals, and to think that with EL we have a rich and experienced esource to help our school’s development. Both Pocatello and ANSER were present at the meeting and each renewed their generous offers of assistance.

Suzanne Gregg was the keynote at the conference, presenting the structures and strategies she has in place for planning and assessing professional development of ANSER’s teachers. We made tentative plans for our Principal to go to ANSER for professional development on topics such as the structures in an EL school and ANSER’s approaches to teacher professional development.

In addition, Palouse Prairie School was paired with ANSER because of our common interest in the training of new teachers. We will develop, with the help of the school designer we share, plans to provide training to our new hires.

One of the other things our school designer helped us do this fall was to plan the recruitment for our Principal. Ashley led this committee and I’m happy to report we have a highly qualified candidate. The individual is a currently a Principal in Idaho, and holds an EdM from Harvard University. I think we are fortunate to have such a strong candidate, and responding to Secretary Luna’s thoughts, at the salary we are offering, we did not attract this applicant because we pay well. The candidate has indicated interest in our position because of the exciting nature of the EL curricular model. The Board will meet tonight to decide if we want to bring this person to Moscow for in-person interviews and to meet prospective families.

I’ll pause for questions.

We have returned to you with a request to change the facilities described in the Appendix to our charter. This change will not require a change to be body of the document.

While I am not happy with the national economy, it is a blessing for us. In this case, we are able to secure a newer building, more central in the city, close to public transit, and three times as large, for a modestly higher rent. This facility was on the market at a much higher rent for many months and the owner has decided to make us this generous offer.

In your packet you will find a cover letter that summarizes the advantages of the new facility we are proposing. For consistency with our previous visit to you, I used the budget you reviewed in June and substituted Browns’ costs for Now and Then costs.

The three-year budgets are summarized in the cover letter, Browns provides a higher cash balance each year, and its nearly twice as large (164,000) by the third year. It’s worth noting that the federal grant we received was over $200,000 higher than the grant assumed in that June budget.

The fundamental issue that improves the budget picture is the reduced infrastructural costs to get into the Browns facility.

The cover letter also summarizes some challenges to the site. Pupil safety traveling to school across the state highway is one. We expect to use buses and crossing guards to mitigate this issue.

Outdoor play space is also an issue. We have had the advantage of a University of Idaho class in Interior Design designing the remodel of Browns. Among their proposals is that we convert the hard-to-access north parking lot to a green play space. It’s not a soccer field, or a baseball diamond, but it is 30x110 feet. The other way to address the challenge is noted in the letter, we have ample space for indoor play.

An issue not mentioned in the documents is that there is a gas station/ A&W restaurant and convenience store located across the street. This establishment sells packaged beer and wine.

I have previously discussed the alcohol issue with you relative to the Silos site, where the café serves beer and wine. You have approved the Silos as our second choice facility.

State law allows the school to be located within 300 feet of the establishment in question, provided the City of Moscow consents. You will recall that Moscow has a Conditional Use Permit process and this issue will be addressed by us in that process.

I expect that we will carry the day on this issue because, at that same intersection, in fact directly across the state highway, Moscow School District holds a Conditional Use Permit for the Paradise Creek Regional High School, the districts alternative school. The distance, measured by Google Earth, straight line, door to door, from the high school to the gas station is 269 feet. Moscow has permitted this with no apparent problems.

Measuring from the Browns front door to the front door of the gas station is 218 feet. Measuring the shortest building to building distance is 177 feet. I’ve not been able to understand if the law is addressing door to door or building to building distances.

Our preferred entrance is not the current front of Browns. Advice of the City planning staff and our traffic engineer is to have bus and parent drop off on the SW corner of the building on a quiet side street. When our UI student designers converted the north parking lot to green space, they fenced it and restricted the use of the current front door to a door to access the playground. Thus our preferred entrance is 288 feet to the closest point on the gas station and over 300 feet door to door to door to the gas station.

Given that Moscow has approved a high school as close or closer to this vendor of alcohol, I believe it is credible that they will be willing to approve our school’s site.

I’ll pause for questions.

As in the past, I have included in your packet a letter from Moscow planning staff, and a letter from Laurence Rose, architect. You will also find budget details and a letter of intent to lease from the owner. I have included some photos and a sketch of a possible floor plan. The UI students have made some much more creative proposals to remodel the space than the one I submitted. Thanks to committee chair Daniela Monk we will be reviewing those on Monday. Also next week we will be reviewing the results of our solicitation for public works architects to assist us with the project.

Your staff asked about the warehouse space. It is an “L” shaped room of about 5000 sqft with a concrete floor. You could run a small fork lift in there. It has racks to allow storing of furniture on 3 levels. Right now I see this as a boon, a place to store furniture and materials we have begun to collect before we finish the remodel. In the long run we may find other uses for the space. It is not heated or cooled, and not counted in our square foot analysis.

I think that is all I want to say now, do you have any questions?

Reflections on EL Leadership conference

In August 2007 a group of parents connected with the Palouse Prairie School project met to discuss options, including staying with EL, or opting out. The general feeling was to stay. As we have worked with EL since then, I am increasingly convinced this was a good choice. Below is a report on an EL regional conference which gave me more evidence for the wisdom of the choice.

---

On Dec 4,5 Kirsten and I traveled to Oakland CA to attend our first EL-hosted conference. This was a regional conference with Principals and school designers from the California and NW regions.

(See also Kirsten's report here.)

My own goal going into the trip was to begin an acculturation to the EL community. About a dozen schools were represented, some traditional district schools made-over to EL and some charter schools. Some of the schools were EL from their founding, some were conversions from other models. Some had hand-picked staff, some had inherited staff.

My first reaction was that it was great to be talking about EL schools, with people who are doing it, getting away from the "what is EL, or why a charter school" kinds of questions we get at home.

The next impression was that this group of Principals is a valuable network of people (beyond the value of the EL school designer). Was Palouse Prairie School developing a 'experiential learning' school without connection to a national organization, we would be faced with a much larger challenge finding peers and collaborators. While the people at the conference didn't have cookie-cutter answers to our challenges, they have working models and are very willing to share (as ANSER, Summit and Pocatello have already demonstrated).

The workshop keynote was a presentation by Suzanne Gregg of ANSER about the approach they are using to assess teachers' skills relative to the EL core benchmarks and how that assessment helps teachers and leaders decide on the Professional Development learning targets. How refreshing -- assess where your school is against the EL model and choose professional development to move forward.

We also spent some time thinking about work plans (for the balance of 08-09 or for the next 18 months). I was able to eavesdrop on a designer-principal conversation and get a greater appreciation for the work plan form and how it was clarifying the school's thinking.

Finally, we were asked to describe some goals for our work plan and the staff used these to make collaborative teams. Palouse Prairie School ended up with ANSER, as we are have a shared interest in training new teachers in summer 09. We have agreed to explore how to collaborate, including EL training at Bainbridge Island and perhaps some combined PD at one or the other site or somewhere in between. We have the fortune to share John LeCavalier as our school designer, which should further enhance the collaboration.

The next of these regional leadership meetings is in Vancouver WA, the end of January. It is unclear who should attend from Palouse Prairie School. One thought is to send some of the same people and (knock on wood) our Principal. Another thought is to send other members of the Board, to broaden the base within the Board. We need to resolve that over the course of the next 4 weeks.

Idaho charters face hurdles finding homes

By JESSIE L. BONNER Published: November 29, 2008

MERIDIAN, Idaho (AP) The 20-foot cross was removed from the church steeple two years ago, not long after the Compass Public Charter School moved into the building.

The religious imagery inside is discreetly hidden while 420 students study math, reading and science. A large room with a vaulted ceiling and stain glass windows serves as the band room, and a curtain covers a small cross above the pulpit.

This charter school in a former dairy town of 71,000 isn't the only one with a unique home.

In a state that has embraced alternatives to the traditional classroom, 31 public charter schools have found themselves setting up shop in everything from a former plant nursery and pet store in Coeur d'Alene, to a strip mall in Garden City and former athletic center in Boise.

Together, the schools serve some 11,000 students. But unlike traditional public schools, they cannot get money from property taxpayers to buy buildings through bonds or levies.

"That is the largest financial challenge charter schools face," said Shirley Rau, school choice coordinator for the state Department of Education. "They are borrowing at the same rate as other nonprofit facilities."

Idaho charters, approved by a 1998 state law, operate with state money based on average daily student attendance, just like traditional public schools. But to raise money for property, teachers, parents and community members seek out investors or borrow from banks to buy facilities.

A third of Idaho charter schools started out in portable trailer classrooms, typically in rural areas of the state where facilities are harder to find, Rau said. Many of these charters have since purchased or built facilities, but some still operate from mobile classrooms.

"What you'll see is a big farm field with trailers," Rau said, adding that a charter school set to open next year in northern Idaho is "probably going to end up in a furniture store."

All but two of the 15 charter schools that own facilities did so with backing from investors, loans, heavy community fundraising and by saving chunks of state money they get based on student attendance.

"Most of this has happened in the last three years," Rau said. "They've only just been able to manage."

The Idaho Arts Charter School moved a new building this year after years of renting an old church and using nine trailers to hold nearly 600 students, grades K-12. The school is paying back a 30-year, $7.5 million loan from Wachovia Corp. used to buy the facility, said Jackie Collins, Idaho Arts Charter School director.

"There wasn't any area banks that were willing to take the risk," Collins said.

The Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy leased a former plant nursery and pet store for three years before buying the warehouse-style building, where 557 students in grades 6-12 wear uniforms and adhere to strict discipline codes as part of a rigorous college-prep program, said school business manager Glenn Mabile.

The school spent $1.5 million to expand and renovate.

"We don't think you have to build a big glorious building to give students a quality education," Mabile said. "The programs and the people come first, a building is secondary."

The Compass school found an investor to buy the Meridian church it used to rent from Ten Mile Christian and now has to pay back a $6 million loan. The church now pays the school rent and plans to move into a new facility next year.

In the meantime, the congregation makes sure to cover the communion table after each Sunday service.

"We have another church ready to move in. It will pay for our utilities," said Bridget Barrus, chairwoman of the board that governs Compass and one of the parents who founded it.

The 16 Idaho charters schools that do not own facilities either rent, lease or share while saving to buy a home.

The ANSER Charter School has held classes at a Boise athletic club since 1999. Racquetball courts were converted into classrooms. The gym blanketed with a musty smell takes up the center of the building and athletes as young as age 5 take classes there from Bronco Elite Arts and Athletics, sometimes while the ANSER school is in session.

The school spent about $450,000 remodeling the facility that holds about 200 students in kindergarten through eighth grade. They could enroll more so they could get more state funding to save toward a new building, but larger class sizes could also work against the mission of the school, said Principal Suzanne Gregg.

Charters are typically created with a specific purpose and in Idaho, range from an online school aimed at minority students to programs that emphasize music, art, dance and drama. ANSER has small classes designed to give students, who are required to participate in community-based projects, more attention.

The school is saving to buy a century-old building from the Boise School District and move out of the facility where they share an address with Bronco Elite.

"Unfortunately, we're investing money in a building we're only leasing," Gregg said.

The racquetball courts were split into skinny classrooms with tall ceilings, sound panels resembling egg carton prevent noise from leaking room to room. The kindergarten teacher snagged the only classroom with a sink.

In a school with no cafeteria, students picked up pizza in the office on a recent Friday and brought it back to their classrooms. Kids are bused to the local YMCA for PE class. Chalk dust used by athletes during gymnastics classes often covers the lockers and cubby holes that line the gymnasium.

"We've been here so long, this is just how we do school," Gregg said.

Online reviews of area EL schools

Greatschools.net is a resource for families to provide ratings of schools. The site allows scoring a school on several 5 point scales, a wholistic one and specific dimentions and a place for open-ended comments. This is similar to the 'rubric' qualitative scoring that will be part of Palouse Prairie School's assessment process. A weakness of the site's process is that individual raters don't have a way of 'norming' (coming into agreement about scores). Typically this results in more noise in the data and often higher scores than a normed group of raters might produce.

In the process you select you role (parent, student, etc). The comments also make some interesting reading from different perspectives.

The regional Expeditionary Learning schools are all rated in the system. Summit School in Spokane Valley rated 8/10. Recently a student said: "I was a student at Summit for 5 years and I will never forget it. We went on some amazing trips that were for learning yet it was not just a trip to where ever and you never look back on it. You had lots of fun and cant wait to tell your parents all about your day. Not just the 'It was fine'. One of the things I loved the fact that you bonded with the students and the teachers. When a teacher left the school you were really sad to see them go. You didn't just bond with your friends. There was no groups that believed that they were better than others. I was there from the begining and have seen it grow from having 3 grades in one class to fill the class to fill the class to having a waiting list a mile long. Summit is amazing."

ANSER school in Boise got 9/10 but Pocatello Community Charter School didn't fare as well (5/10).

Dec 08 News - Jobs/ Big Grants/ Volunteer Opportunities

Originally sent to the school email list 12/2/08.

Principal Search Underway
The search for the Principal of Palouse Prairie School opened November 1. The search committee is progressing through screening the pool, calling references and a telephone interview. MARK YOUR CALENDAR. December 18 we are hoping to have an event where the finalist can meet the community and you can offer structured confidential feedback to be considered by the Board. Obviously, things are still in a formative stage, but we hope to see you at 7:30 in the Fiske Room of the 1912 Center.

Big Grant
On November 21, Shirley Rau at the Idaho State Board of Education announced that Palouse Prairie School was awarded a Federally funded Charter school startup grant (pre-opening/post-charter) of slightly more than $650,000 over three years. This is the second part of the startup grant process, Palouse Prairie School received $20,000 Vision grant (pre-charter) in March 2008. (See the Daily News story.)

The grant will fund many start-up activities, including training in Expeditionary Learning for the Principal and teachers, and other professional development for Principal and school board members. It also funds materials for the school library, computers and classroom furniture. While it funds ADA-related remodeling, it does not fund facilities or remodeling in general. Those funds still need to be secured.

Volunteers Needed
We need to develop advertising materials for the spring enrollment period in Feb-March. The COOP's deadline is the 20th of the preceding month, so work needs to happen now to be ready before Christmas. Graphic design/ layout help is needed.

We also need to get more information out than fits in a newspaper ad or tri-fold brochure: Architectural sketches of the new school, information about school lunch and calendar, etc., a rich picture of what the school will be, in addition to the Expeditionary Learning model. For that we need a multipage brochure designed. Some of the copy and images exist, but other parts are still missing. Writing and design/layout help are needed. We need to go to press in January.

Board Openings
Linda Sterk has served on the Board since the beginning of this process. Janet Granja has served this past year, and her husband was on the first Board, so she's also part of the founding effort. We appreciate their vision to have EL in Moscow and are thankful for their efforts getting things started. They have decided its time to step aside and so we have openings for two new Board members. Board job descriptions are posted on the website. We could use both K-12 expertise and finance/business backgrounds. If you are interested, reply to this email.

Financial Angels Needed Also
Despite the great news about grants, we also need to build a line of credit to help with our cash flow. When the school is running we'll gradually build a cash reserve, but right now we don't have that. The economy and banking being what they are, getting a loan for operating capital is "challenging." But AmericanWest Bank has helped find a solution, and you are part of it. Essentially, you help secure our loan by opening a Certificate of Deposit at the Bank and pledging it to secure our loan. Please consider how you can help, and reply to this email for more details.

Palouse Prairie receives large grant from Idaho Department of Education

By Halley Griffin, Daily News staff writer
November 26, 2008
appearing in Moscow-Pullman Daily News - DNews.com

The Palouse Prairie Charter School recently received a $671,949 grant from the Idaho State Department of Education, and will use the money to train the school principal, board and teachers.

The school has been in the works for several years and is slated to open for business next fall.

The school also may use some of the grant money for computers, furniture and library books, or certain remodeling projects, said Nils Peterson, chairman of the Palouse Prairie board of directors.

"This is hugely helpful," Peterson said. "We applied for $650,000. You need all that sort of stuff to start up a school."

Palouse Prairie will receive $200,000 of the grant this year, and will receive two more payments later on if it meets its yearly goals.

The Idaho Department of Education applied for federal funding to provide grants for schools developing innovative programming, Department of Education School Choice Coordinator Shirley Rau said.

Eleven schools were awarded grants that can be renewed for up to three years. Three of the awardees are start-up charter schools, she said. Idaho currently has 31 charter schools, with six more scheduled to open next fall.

Rau said Palouse Prairie's application stood out to the panel of reviewers.

"Palouse Prairie's application was very unusual in the fact that it had an extremely high level of professional development," Rau said. "The reviewers were very impressed with their proposal."

Palouse Prairie Charter School will operate on an expeditionary learning outward bound model, in which students learn through an "integrated inquiry process," Rau said. In other words, if students are studying the effect of rainwater on the local environment, their reading, writing, math and science classes will all be integrated into the study of rainwater.

"It's not an easy educational model to implement or replicate," Rau said, adding that the school's grant application also stood out because of its high percentage of funding devoted to teacher development in the expeditionary learning model.

"That will really make that a good, solid school," Rau said.

Peterson said the school is searching for a principal.

"We're just about to start screening candidates," Peterson said. "We would like to have a contract for the person in January."

Ashley Ater-Kranov is chairwoman of the principal search and a member of the school's board of directors. She said the board will begin reviewing applications this week, conduct phone interviews next week, and hopefully have the finalist come for an in-person interview in mid-December.

"What's nice is that we have quite a few (applicants) within Idaho," Ater-Kranov said.

Peterson said the board of directors would like to have the principal involved in the search for teachers and student recruitment.

Palouse Prairie Charter School is a free public school, and is open to anyone. There are spots available for 87 children in kindergarten through fifth grade. Enrollment will be open from February to March.

"Things are really revving up, and we need as many people as possible to help us do our start-up work," Ater-Kranov said, adding that there are two open positions on the board of directors. Job descriptions are posted on the school's Web site, along with contact and application information.

Palouse Prairie also received $100,000 from the J.A. & Kathryn Albertson Foundation in August. That donation was unrestricted, so the school may use it for salaries, remodeling and operational expenses, Peterson said.

On the Web: www.palouseprairieschool.org.

Halley Griffin can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 239, or by e-mail at hgriffin@dnews.com.

Palouse Prairie School Awarded Startup Grant

On November 21, Shirley Rau at the Idaho State Board of Education announced that Palouse Prairie School was awarded a Federally funded Charter school startup grant (pre-opening/post-charter) of slightly more than $650,000 over three years. This is the second part of the startup grant process, Palouse Prairie School received a $20,000 Vision grant (pre-charter) in March 2008.

The grant will fund many startup activities, including training in Expeditionary Learning for the Principal and teachers, and other professional development for Principal and school board members. It also funds materials for the school library, computers and classroom furniture.

While it funds ADA-related remodeling, it does not fund facilities or remodeling in general. Those funds still need to be secured.

You can read the grant materials at this link

http://www.box.net/shared/ergm44q8t3

Summit Trip a Success

We ended up with 13 people. There were a wide variety of reasons people visited, from students studying Interior Design and Education to parents wanting to know more.

The Summit staff was incredibly inviting and friendly. I felt very welcome and free to observe and talk to the staff. I was very impressed to see that there was a program on Fridays where the 7th /8th graders were tutoring the Kindergartners. There was also a
kind of assembly where kids of all ages got into groups and were given tasks they had to keep working to figure out the best way to achieve their goals ( getting a beanbag to a partner across the room).

I enjoyed seeing the level of respect the children were given. I and four others had a very nice Q & A with the Principal [Krislock]. He was absolutely amazing. He is so knowledgeable and friendly. ( I wanted to steal him for our school !!) He also spoke separately with the design students. I am really glad I went. --Gabrielle

Tour to Summit EL School Fri Nov 14

Parents wanting to see EL in action are invited to come on a tour of Summit School in Spokane Valley. We have organized these trips in the past, and they provide interesting insights to EL in action.

Depart Moscow Rosauers at 7:00AM sharp Friday, Nov 14, to get to school in time for the opening (there is no opening bell). Back in Moscow by about 3:30.

Please sign up (below) to help our planning. We'll help coordinate car pools if you want, indicate on the form. We will limit the trip to 25 people so as not to overwhelm the school.

Website for the Summit School.

Map with driving directions from Moscow.

Palouse Prairie School Summer Adventure

Originally published in the Moscow Food COOP News, October 2008

By Donna Mills, PPSEL Volunteer

This past July, members of Palouse Prairie School of Expeditionary Learning offered a chance for children in the area to experience a hands-on look and feel of Expeditionary Learning. The subject was local sustainable and organic agriculture. The two-week class was full of many opportunities for the children to get their hands into the local agriculture. They visited a local organic farm and learned how an organic farm is different from a non-organic farm. The children participated in a creating a plot at the Moscow Community Garden and after harvesting the garden, they gave their vegetables to Backyard Harvest. The project let them see food travel from the soil to the community. There were many wonderful activities that the children explored, including worm composting, honey bee pollination and a look at the connection between farming and wetland conservation. The experience culminated in a project in which the children painted a PCEI trailer to show what organic and sustainable gardening looks like. Watch for the newly painted PCEI trailer as it travels through town to work at local watersheds.

This experience exemplifies one of the ten design principles of an expeditionary school. The eighth design principle, “The Natural World” says: “A direct and respectful relationship with the natural world refreshes the human spirit and teaches the important ideas of recurring cycles and cause and effect. Students learn to become stewards of the earth and of future generations.” What a fantastic experience the children participated in.

Please join us for a workshop "A day in the life of an Expeditionary Learning School,” October 11, 9-noon. This free workshop will be led by a school designer from Portland and will be held in the new west wing of the 1912 building. Please RSVP at http://PalousePrairieSchool.org. For more volunteer opportunities, contact nilspete@gmail.com.

Parents' Workshop with EL School Designer, Sat Oct 11

Expeditionary Learning Schools is sending a school designer to facilitate a morning workshop for parents and interested area teachers. The tentative title is "Day in the life of an EL School." Parents will participate in activities that give both the flavor of an EL school day and take a deeper look into how the 10 Design Principles make EL different from traditional school curriculum. (Area teachers are welcome to attend and learn more about active learning strategies.)

The session is scheduled for the new West Wing of the 1912 Center.

9-Noon, Saturday Oct 11
Admission Free, but advance signup requested.

Tour to Summit EL School, Fri Sept 26

Parents wanting to see EL in action are invited to come on a tour of Summit School in Spokane Valley. We have organized two of these trips in the past, and they provide interesting insights to EL in action.

Depart Moscow Rosauers at 6:45AM sharp Friday Sept 26 to get to school in time for the opening (there is no opening bell). Back in Moscow by about 3:30.

Please sign up (below) to help our planning. We'll help coordinate car pools if you want, indicate on the form. We will limit the trip to 25 people so as not to overwhelm the school.

Website for the Summit School.

Map with driving directions from Moscow.

Yard Sale, Sat. Sept 20

Saturday, Sept 20, 8-noon
Emmanuel Lutheran Church
1036 W "A" St Moscow

Fund raiser for Palouse Prairie.

Three ways to participate:
1. Drop off items to be sold. Friday 3-6PM at the church
2. Volunteer to help with the sale or setup (nilspete@gmail.com, or show up)
3. Shop till you drop. (And talk to us about Palouse Prairie)

Palouse Prarie Awarded $100K Albertsons Grant

Press Release Aug 21

Palouse Prairie School has received a grant of $100,000 from the J.A. and
Kathryn Albertson Foundation as part of the Foundation’s program to support
educational choice.

“We are very thankful. This is an important gift, it allows us to get the
project moving in advance of receiving state funds,” said Nils Peterson,
chair of the Palouse Prairie Board.

This fall, an Expeditionary Learning (elschools.org) school designer will
facilitate a three-hour “Day in the life of an EL class” for parents. This
will be a hands-on simulation of key EL activities and an in-depth way for
families to learn more about the EL model. Also this fall there will be a
trip to visit Summit School, an EL school in Spokane Valley.

Palouse Prairie to Collaborate with U of I Design Students

Originally published in the Sept 2008 Moscow Food COOP News

Written by Donna Mills, volunteer writer

This fall an Interior Design class at the University of Idaho will take on the project of designing the remodel of the Now and Then Antiques building for the Palouse Prairie School of Expeditionary Learning (PPSEL). Palouse Prairie plans to open as a K-5 charter school in August 2009. The project requires UI students to learn about Expeditionary Learning (EL) and how space impacts the ways teaching can occur. The students will treat this class project as a job. They will create different designs for the school in group projects and then choose the one they feel is best and refine it.

This partnership between the PPSEL and the UI students exemplifies one of the ten design principles of an expeditionary school. #6 Collaboration and Competition says: “Individual development and group development are integrated so that the value of friendship, trust, and group action is clear. Students are encouraged to compete not against each other, but with their own personal best and with rigorous standards of excellence.” It will be exciting to follow the progress of the UI students as they design, redesign and eventually produce a project that rises to a rigorous standard of excellence.

Its great to see the principles of EL developing during the processes of opening the school. As the school develops and grows toward it’s opening in the fall of 2009, there will be many opportunities to witness the other nine design principles.

Watch for opportunities to learn more about Palouse Prairie and Expeditionary Learning this fall. A “Day in the life of an EL class” is being planned for parents. There will also be a trip to visit Summit School, an EL school in Spokane Valley. The PalousePrairieSchool.org web site has opportunities to volunteer, links to EL resources and more information about the school. Contact nilspete@gmail.com

Celebrating the Summer 08 Expedition

Our two-week summer camp ended with a celebration on Aug 2 out on the PCEI campus. It was not really an "Expedition" in the full ELS sense, more a 'taste of an expedition.' Like an expedition each camp day was structured like an ELS school day and the children were engaged in an integrated curriculum related to sustainable agriculture, learning a range of things, from growing "FAST plants" to doing some work in the community gardens. The celebration Morris country harvest dancing.

The Celebration was also a chance to mark the approval of the Charter and a shift to the next phase of the task -- opening a school.


Dancers take a bow.

Charter Award Potluck and Celebration, Aug 2

Help us Celebrate!
Saturday August 2, 2008
5:00pm to 7:00pm.

PCEI Campus, 1040 Rodeo Dr
Moscow, ID

Come celebrate finally getting the Palouse Prairie charter approved and the completion of our summer camp adventure on sustainable agriculture. Kids have been planting and monitoring fast plants from seed-to-seed and working in the Community Garden and learning some dancing (busy two weeks)

Please invite a guest who might want to learn more about Palouse Prairie School

Children's program
A short program capping the 2-week summer experience will happen about 5:15.

Potluck about 6PM

• Grilled salmon (thanks to a Palouse Prairie donor).
• There are several vegetarian salads on the way, you are invited to bring more delicious items to share.
• Ice water will be provided.
• Plates, cups and silverware will come from the "Plate Project," so hopefully we will be light on waste.

Questions, email Nils Peterson

Palouse Prairie Plans

Originally published in the August 2008 Moscow Food COOP news

Twelve months and counting until Palouse Prairie opens an Expeditionary Learning charter school at the Now & Then Antiques location on Palouse River Drive in Moscow. With the help of many supporters, the Charter was approved June 26. If you want to catch up on the news, try http://WhyPalousePrairie.blogspot.com

Here’s a timeline. We are working on a conditional use permit (CUP) now. This fall will be designing the school facility, and planning food and transportation. Children will apply to attend in winter. Hiring of teachers will happen in the spring and remodeling and landscaping work will begin June 09.

We are ready for volunteers! Getting a CUP involves designing a landscape buffer between the building and the street. Natural Abode donated "Greening School Grounds" and Amy Grey (Backyard Harvest) pointed us to the Edible Schoolyard work by Alice Waters. Help with landscape design, or other CUP work is welcome.

We are also looking for a volunteer to write 300 words each month to keep friends of the school updated. Venues will include the DNews letters and the CO-OP news. We also need a Calendar-minder to think of, and maintain, the list all the events on the Moscow civic calendar (e.g., Ren Fair, Rendezvous) where Palouse Prairie should be involved. In addition to warm fuzzies and learning more about EL, volunteers will have a hand in deciding the 1001 things needed to open a school.

In September there will be several events for parents to learn more about EL, including a workshop and a trip to see an EL school in Spokane Valley. Watch our website for the most up to date information.

For volunteer opportunities and news, if you have an idea of something you want to contribute and to get on the email list, contact Nils Peteson, nilspete@gmail.com

HER VIEW: Charter schools provide quality education

By Briana LeClaire,
July 11, 2008

Isn't it surprising when the Daily News reports the obvious? Readers were recently informed the Moscow School District will receive less money if it loses students to the new Palouse Prairie Charter School (July 4). Since public school funding has always followed the child, Idaho's public charter school law, created in 1998, has meant some public school funding has been following children into public charter schools for 10 years. In other words, this latest story gives a sour taste, but it is not news.

As the president of the Coalition of Idaho Charter School Families, I congratulate Moscow families on expanding their public school choices. The coalition is the voice of thousands of students, parents and teachers who together work to make Idaho's public charter schools a success story. While the choices offered by Idaho public charter schools may not be for every student, these options meet a critical need for many Idaho families. Offering high-quality curriculum, flexible, individual instruction, and the oversight of certified Idaho teachers, charter schools are helping many students to thrive outside of traditional public schools.

From teachers' union leaders to homeschoolers, everyone agrees educational choice is desirable. Many Idaho school districts have embraced choice and present parents with different options. Idaho's largest school district, Meridian, offers a performing arts elementary school, technical-professional schools, year-round schedules, and will offer an International Baccalaureate high school starting this fall. Ten years ago, the Boise School District was losing students and it responded with school choices including a math and science junior high school, dual language schools, a Harbor Method elementary, a Montessori school and more. Choices in the form of charter schools are in dozens of Idaho communities including Kuna, Twin Falls, Sandpoint, Mountain Home, Nampa and Pocatello.

Until now, Moscow's major public school innovation has been the Moscow Charter School, which was chartered by and is funded through the Moscow School District. It is popular, boasting an enrollment of 146 students, 20 children on the kindergarten waiting list, and 41 waiting altogether. The Palouse Prairie Charter School further increases choice in Moscow. Opening in fall 2009 with 75 students and aiming for 200, it will be an Expeditionary Learning school. Expeditionary Learning is a proven educational model that has had success both nationwide and regionally at the 10-year-old ANSER Charter School in Boise, Pocatello Community Charter School and Summit School in Spokane Valley. The idea of an Expeditionary Learning school in north Idaho is very exciting news for those of us in the charter school movement.

The chartering process is demanding, with an outcome that is far from certain. As was reported in the Daily News, after several attempts Palouse Prairie's charter was finally approved in June. Because of a perceived competition for resources, the chartering process can lead to animosity. Divisiveness might sell papers, but what will benefit all the publicly schooled children in Moscow, traditional and charter alike, is a spirit of collaboration where each school excels to meet its students' needs. Because one-size-fits-all never fits anyone correctly, it's time to stop expecting one type of school - or even one type of public charter school - to fit all public school students.

Parents should have the right be as involved in their children's education as they want to be. The families of Palouse Prairie public charter school have labored for years to bring forth an innovative, effective and inspiring school that will enhance the entire region. I encourage you to learn more about both of Moscow's public charter schools and the choices they offer. Who knows? One of them may even be the best fit for your family.

Briana LeClaire, a former Moscow resident, is the president of the Coalition of Idaho Charter School Families. Her children are enrolled in the Idaho Virtual Academy, a virtual public charter school. She lives in Meridian.

Biz Bits: Business stays put for now, and then could move later

Charter school won't displace used furniture, antique store yet
By Murf Raquet
July 12, 2008

Larry Woodbury has owned the building that houses Now & Then, a used furniture and antique store, for years. H took over the business in December. He recently reached a deal to lease part of the building to Palouse Prairie Charter School.

"It looks like they'll take over the upstairs in June 2009," Woodbury said. "Until then it's business as usual."

That message was lost after it was announced that Palouse Prairie would receive a charter and had a site for the school.

"I don't want people to think we're closed," he said.

In October 2009, the school will take over the basement. At that point Woodbury will move to a new location or continue the business from his barn in rural Moscow.

He also could look at selling the business or taking some inventory to antique shows.

The building has 4,000 square feet of space on each floor and formerly housed the Moscow High School wood shop.

Remodeling for classrooms and offices is planned before the school becomes operational.

Woodbury has done extensive cleaning at the business and upgraded the inventory, including European antiques such as hutches and washstands. He's also adjusted prices to make items more affordable.

Woodbury purchases a portion of the store's inventory locally, including clean mattresses, he said.

In addition to Now and Then, Woodbury owns and operates Four Seasons Lawn Care and rental apartments.

"There's plenty to do to keep busy," he said.

The school's lease is for three years with an option to renew for another three years.

Now and Then is located at 310 E. Palouse River Drive. Business hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For more information, call (208) 882-7886.

MSD could pay a price for new charter school

By Devin Rokyta, Daily News staff writer
July 4, 2008

Palouse Prairie Charter School's impending opening could affect the amount of money the Moscow School District receives from the state.

It also could limit any potential new hiring by the district.

Palouse Prairie officials expect to enroll 75 students when the school opens in the fall of 2009, and its latest plans call for its four-classroom school to be located at 321 E. Palouse River Drive - the current location of the Now & Then antique shop.

The school initially will enroll students in grades K-6, but expects to eventually expand to serve seventh- and eighth-graders as well.

Tim Hill, deputy superintendent of finance at the Idaho Department of Education, said state funding is derived from a complicated formula that takes into account a school's average daily attendance, grade level of students and staff experience. Schools receive more money for high school students than elementary-age students, and more for staff members with experience. According to state figures, the Moscow School District received an average of $8,052 per student for the 2006-07 school year.

While there are several variables in determining funding and exact figures can't yet be determined, the potential loss of 75 students could have negative consequences for the school district, Superintendent Candis Donicht said.

"A key number in the funding formula has to do with head counts," she said.

Money for some of Palouse Prairie's budget will come from the state using the same funding formula. Moscow Charter School is chartered by MSD and receives funding through the district.

The district should have a better idea of Palouse Prairie's effect on its budget in the spring, when the new charter school releases its roster.

"It remains to be seen," Donicht said. "For funding purposes and staffing purposes we should know soon.

"What it boils down to is you have to staff appropriately for the students you are anticipating," she added. "You don't need additional teachers if the student numbers don't warrant it. No one can afford to be overstaffed, but we can't afford to be understaffed either."

In the worst-case scenario the new school could result in a loss of jobs for the district.

"That remains to be seen," Donicht said. "With a new school starting up it's not likely that we will be adding teachers."

Palouse Prairie's charter was approved last week, when the Idaho Public Charter Commission voted to reverse an earlier denial of the proposed school's charter petition.

Palouse Prairie officials first sought charter approval through the Moscow School District in 2006. However, board members stopped the process in September 2006 and decided to apply for a charter through the state commission instead.

The commission denied the school's initial attempts to secure a charter because of concerns related to its budget and the lack of a suitable facility. The Palouse Prairie board of directors had proposed two possible sites for the school, including a spot near The Silos development in east Moscow and the first floor of the 1912 Center in Moscow.

School officials satisfied those concerns at an appeals hearing by proposing a new location on Palouse River Drive and securing two grants that addressed budgetary issues.

The school still must secure a conditional use permit from the city of Moscow and address several remodeling issues before the school can be opened. Devin Rokyta can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 237, or by e-mail at drokyta@dnews.com.

Thank you to supporters

Originally written as a letter to the Editor of the Daily News in response to the article on PP getting its charter:

Thank you for the story covering the awarding of a Charter to open Palouse Prairie School. I want to express my appreciation for the enduring and diverse support of friends of our Expeditionary Learning School. From the original Board who kindled the spark, to all those who have come forward with guidance, funding, facilities, and encouragement, I appreciate everyone's contributions.

I would also like to invite the community to participate in the process of developing the school to serve the area. Expeditionary Learning is an inclusive curriculum that combines collaboration and hands-on projects with high academic achievement and community involvement. Anyone interested in learning more or getting involved can get on an email list by contacting Nils Peterson. There is still time to enroll children in our summer expedition on sustainable agriculture by visiting the website. More information for prospective families will be coming out during the fall and winter, with applications being accepted in Spring 09 for school opening in August 2009.

Palouse Prairie granted charter

Proposed school plans to locate on Palouse River Drive, open to students in fall 2009

By Devin Rokyta, Daily News staff writer
June 27, 2008

Palouse Prairie Charter School officials cleared a major hurdle Thursday in their attempt to open a school in Moscow, when the Idaho Public Charter Commission voted to reverse its earlier denial of the group's charter petition.

School officials hope to locate the four-classroom facility at 321 E. Palouse River Drive - the current location of the Now & Then antique shop - and have the school open for students in August 2009.

Nils Peterson, chairman of the Palouse Prairie board of directors, said the school expects to enroll 75 students in grades K-6 for its inaugural year. School officials plan to eventually educate seventh- and eighth-graders as well.

The proposed school first sought its approval through the Moscow School District in 2006. However, its board members stopped the process in September 2006 and decided to apply for a charter through the state commission instead.

The state denied the school's first attempts at securing a charter because of concerns related to its budget and the lack of a suitable facility. The Palouse Prairie board of directors had proposed two possible sites for the school, including a spot near The Silos development in east Moscow and the first floor of the 1912 Center in Moscow.

Commission Chairman Bill Goesling of Moscow said school officials addressed those concerns at an appeals hearing in late May and at Thursday's meeting. The new location they proposed on Palouse River Drive alleviated location concerns and they secured two grants that addressed budgetary issues.

"This gave us a more comfortable feeling that they had the resources and the facilities to make a go at it," Goesling said.

Peterson is pleased to see the proposed school is now making headway.

"It's been three-and-a-half years getting this far and we are excited to finally get out of the starting gates," Peterson said. "This was not a one-person show, this was a team effort."

The school still must secure a conditional use permit from the city of Moscow and address several remodeling issues before the school can be opened. Peterson is confident the city will approve a permit.

"I think we can make a convincing case and I think the location we found is not going to be problematic to its neighbors," Peterson said.

Moscow School District Superintendent Candis Donicht is on vacation and was not available for comment.

More information about the Palouse Prairie Charter School can be found at PalousePrairieSchool.org.

Devin Rokyta can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 237, or by e-mail at drokyta@dnews.com.

Denial Overturned - Charter Awarded

In a historic move, the Idaho Public Charter Commission just voted to reverse its decision of March 6 and to approved the Palouse Prairie School of Expeditionary Learning's Charter petition, to open in August 2009. The decision was based on new materials developed since the March denial and submitted first to an Appeals officer and then refined and submitted to the Commission today.

The location that Palouse Prairie proposed as its first choice facility is currently Now & Then Antiques at 321 East Palouse River Drive. Commissioners expressed concerns over remodeling costs and the budget and urged attention to resolution of those issues as well as beginning planning for pupil to-school transportation to the site.

I want to express tremendous thanks to Palouse Prairie's supporters for getting us this far. Its been a long road, and now the work really begins.

Expeditionary Learning emphasizes teamwork as part of its learning strategy and the greatest successes of Palouse Prairie to date have come from teamwork, among the Board and between the Board and parents and supporters. The next phase, from Charter to Opening in 2009 will require more learning teams, and the Board welcomes contact from supporters with offers of collaboration and other resources.

Next steps include clarifying remaining remodeling issues and then moving forward with a contract to lease and obtaining a Conditional Use Permit from the City of Moscow to operate a school.

Families interested in learning more about Palouse Prairie are invited to consider enrolling children in a summer expedition this July 21-Aug 1. More information and enrollment is available at the website: PalousePrairieSchool.org

Palouse Prairie Awarded Charter

Unpublished article written for Moscow Food COOP news


Written by Nils Peterson, Board Chair

In a historic move, the Idaho Public Charter Commission just voted to reverse its decision of March 6 and to approved the Palouse Prairie School of Expeditionary Learning's Charter petition, to open in August 2009. The decision was based on new materials developed since the March denial and submitted first to an Appeals officer and then refined and submitted to the Commission today. The location that Palouse Prairie proposed as its first choice facility is currently Now & Then Antiques at 321 East Palouse River Drive.

This news item exemplifies one of the ten design principles of an expeditionary school. # 5 Success and Failure says: "All students need to be successful if they are to build the confidence and capacity to take risks and meet increasingly difficult challenges. But it is also important for students to learn from their failures, to persevere when things are hard, and to learn to turn disabilities into opportunities.” The March denial and appeal process was an occasion for the Palouse Prairie Board to learn from perseverance. Additional work to discover and research the Now & Then facility and access to additional grant funds turned the corner.

Expeditionary Learning emphasizes teamwork as part of its learning strategy and the greatest successes of Palouse Prairie to date have come from teamwork, among the Board and between the Board and parents and supporters. The next phase, from Charter to Opening in 2009 will require more learning teams, and the Board welcomes contact from supporters with offers of collaboration and other resources.

Next steps include clarifying remaining remodeling issues and then moving forward with a contract to lease and obtaining a Conditional Use Permit from the City of Moscow to operate a school. The PalousePrairieSchool.org web site has opportunities to volunteer, links to EL resources and more information about the school. Contact nilspete@gmail.com

Palouse Prairie and Systems Change

Originally published in the April 2008 Moscow Food Coop newsletter

"We are satisfied with our model, it produces the results we want." That was Superintendent Donich's answer declining to collaborate with Palouse Prairie on an Expeditionary Learning model school in Moscow School District. That answer summarizes Clayton Christensen's argument in "Innovator's Dilemma" for why successful organizations don't adapt to new markets. Christensen teaches at Harvard Business School and studies why some of the best run companies in America declined or failed.

COOP members have been voting to change systems, like the agri-industrial complex, that are not sustainable and healthy. Your choices are reforming food systems and making businesses consider the whole and wholesome. The traditional school may not produce results you want because it doesn't assess the way it should. “This isn't a multiple-choice world," Wayne C. Johnson, VP for worldwide university relations at Hewlett-Packard (Wasley, P. 2008. Tests Aren't Best Way to Evaluate Graduates' Skills, Business Leaders Say in Survey, The Chronicle of Higher Education)

In March, Palouse Prairie charter school was awarded one of Idaho's first Vision grants, worth $20,000, to start a tuition free, non-religious, public school in Moscow, offering the integrated project-based curriculum called Expeditionary Learning. Our vision is to offer an inclusive, respectful and supportive learning environment that nurtures the individual as a thoughtful participant in our local and global community. The grant and a generous donation from Tri-State, will be used for school planning and to offer a summer expedition, giving Moscow hands-on with Expeditionary Learning.

We are appealing the Charter Commission's denial of our school's petition, networking in the community to develop facilities options, and moving forward to offer educational choice. You can vote for school change. A survey on our website will let you tell us what you have to offer. You can also learn more about us and the EL model.

Palouse Prairie denied charter

Be sure to read the last 2 paragraphs of this article -- the glass is more than half full!

By Hadley Rush, Daily News staff writer
Tuesday, March 11, 2008 - Page Updated at 12:00:00 AM

Palouse Prairie Charter School officials still hope to open their doors in fall 2009 despite having their charter application denied last week in Boise.

The Idaho Public Charter School Commission turned down the proposed Moscow charter school's application Thursday. It was the second time Palouse Prairie officials had applied for a charter from the commission.

Commission Chairman Bill Goesling of Moscow said the proposed school will receive official notification by the end of the week, declining its application.

He said there were two major areas of concern - the school's budget and the lack of a suitable facility.

"When they made the first application, we (also) mentioned those concerns," Goesling said.

Idaho Charter Schools Program Manager Tamara Baysinger said the commission was pleased with Palouse Prairie's educational program, but there wasn't sufficient evidence that the school would succeed financially.

"The commission acknowledged that the petitioners did a lot of work," Baysinger said. "Unfortunately, there still wasn't an adequate facility."

Baysinger said although it's possible the school still could open in 2009, that is unlikely.

The petitioners would either have to go through the appeals process or start over with a new charter petition, which could take eight months to a year, she said.

Nils Peterson, chairman of the Palouse Prairie board of directors, had previously identified two possible sites for the school, including a spot near The Silos development in east Moscow and the first floor of the 1912 Center in Moscow.

Silos officials had offered to build a facility for the school, Peterson said.

Peterson said a charter school commissioner had recommended Palouse Prairie "find an angel to help with the facility issue."

"We thought we had found an angel in the offer from The Silos to build us a facility, but commissioners expressed concerns that the facility was small and would ... be outgrown," he said.

Peterson said the use committee for Heart of the Arts, Inc., which manages the 1912 Center, has "provided Palouse Prairie a draft of its application questions for tenants."

"I'm really pleased," he said. "This gets us closer to having the conversation with HAI about leasing space."

Heart of the Arts Executive Director Jenny Sheneman has said it's probably not feasible to have a charter school in the 1912 Center due to space constraints.

Sheneman also has said there would be problems with parking spaces, as well as occupancy regulations.

"It's a community center and we don't necessarily want to occupy it with a school," Sheneman said.

Sheneman said Palouse Prairie's projected opening date also would take the 1912 Center out of the running. The first floor of the center likely won't be ready for occupancy until 2010.

"The timetable is just ridiculous," she said.

Peterson wrote in a Monday e-mail to the Daily News that despite "uncertainties at present," he still thinks the 1912 Center is an appealing option.

"We will work with (the center) to see if those (uncertainties) can be nailed down," he wrote.

Peterson wrote that the board also will continue to look for more location options.

"We are continuing to work with a Realtor looking for other solutions," he wrote. "It looks like a buyers' market right now. I welcome anyone with a creative idea."

Peterson indicated that the State Department of Education awarded a $20,000 Vision grant to Palouse Prairie officials. The money will be used for staff support, board training, curriculum design and planning for the Palouse Prairie summer expedition.

Peterson said the summer expedition program is scheduled for the last two weeks in July.

Hadley Rush can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 239, or by e-mail at hrush@dnews.com.

Daily News:Palouse Prairie Charter School eyeing 2009 start date

By Hadley Rush Daily News staff writer

Wednesday, February 6, 2008 - Page Updated at 12:00:00 AM

The ongoing search for a facility and past budgeting problems have again pushed back the opening date of the proposed Palouse Prairie Charter School.

The school, which hoped to open its doors this August, now won't be up and running until at least 2009, said Nils Peterson, chairman of the school's board of directors.

"The charter went to Boise" Tuesday, he said. "The commission meets on March 6, and we hope to have our charter approved then."

Upon approval, Peterson said charter school officials will move forward in securing a school facility and begin to recruit students in grades K-6.

Peterson has said the school eventually will expand to serve seventh- and eighth-graders.

"We are targeting an enrollment of 72 to open," Peterson said. "That's kind of a compromise between how small and how big (the school needs to be). We know we need to start small and that we need to recruit children away from other (schooling) alternatives."

The proposed school first sought its approval through the Moscow School District in 2006. Its board members stopped the process in September 2006 and decided to apply for a charter through the state commission instead.

"The charter was reviewed in April of 2007 by the charter commission," Peterson said. "They asked us to come back with better answers to a three-part problem."

Peterson said the commission asked charter school officials to work on budgeting, facility and enrollment issues.

"Their concern was that the budget needed to reflect a realistic facility cost," Peterson said. "And so the work that we have done in the last nine months has been primarily to address those concerns."

Peterson said he has high hopes the charter will be approved.

"I don't expect the charter would be rejected, but there might be some other issues we'd need a better job of addressing," he said.

Peterson said charter school officials are considering renting classroom space in two different areas of town.

"The 1912 Building is an appealing option because of its potential for us to grow there," Peterson said. "We have asked the Heart of the Arts board, who manages the 1912, (if the charter school could) start with a three-room facility and grow from there. We're interested in the first floor."

Peterson said The Silos development in east Moscow also has offered rental space at a cost of $13 per square-foot per year.

"The owners there have offered to build and rent to us a small school facility, but the site is limited and we'd quickly outgrow it (within) two years," Peterson said.

Brenda von Wandruszka of Moscow Realty, one of the developers behind The Silos, said Silos officials offered rental space to the Palouse Prairie Charter School because they're eager to help the school get on its feet.

"We want to help them facilitate their school," von Wandruszka said. "We would build on to the Silos to help them as soon as their charter is ready to go."

Peterson said the 1912 Center may be a better fit because of location.

"The 1912 building is really centrally located and the Moscow School District provides great busing right across the street," Peterson said, referring to Moscow High School. "We could start small and add a classroom a year for several years. We're prepared to pay a commercial lease, but I don't know what price the Heart of the Arts would set."

Peterson said Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna recently made grant money available to school organizations before their charter is approved.

"We are applying for a grant right now, which would help support a summer expedition camp in July 2008 and other planning activities," Peterson wrote in an e-mail. "Luna's efforts have brought new energy to our group, and we are confident we'll be able to open in 2009."

Peterson said the summer camp is scheduled for the last two weeks in July in Moscow.

"The theme is sustainable agriculture," Peterson said. "We'd like to work with Backyard Harvest - a middle man that helps fresh produce move from people's back yards and orchards to various kinds of food banks. (We'd like) to involve the children in that service activity."

Peterson said the grant funding would secure a venue to host the camp and pay for insurance.

"We will get out marketing information when we have facility and insurance problems solved," Peterson said.

Peterson said he's excited to get plans for the school off the ground.

"We have disappointed parents several times now, but this process has proven to be much longer and more difficult than any of us banked on," he said.

For more information about the Palouse Prairie Charter School, visit its Web site at www.PalousePrairieSchool.org.

Hadley Rush can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 239, or by e-mail at hrush@dnews.com.