Monday, December 29, 2008
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.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
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?
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?
Sunday, December 7, 2008
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.
---
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.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
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.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
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).
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.
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.
Monday, December 1, 2008
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.
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.
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