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