Director comes to new charter school after more than 12 years in Atlanta schools

By Halley Griffin Daily News staff writer
July 10, 2009

Summer Clayton is ready to start from the beginning.

Clayton began her tenure as director of the new Palouse Prairie School of Expeditionary Learning on July 1.

"I think one of the things that I'm really, really excited about is being able to start from scratch," Clayton said. "As a small school and as a small community, we can move forward in the way that aligns with our vision. It's shared leadership at its best, and I think that's the way school should be."

Clayton comes to Moscow after working in Atlanta schools for more than 12 years. She last worked as an instructional coach, a role similar to that of assistant principal, in a small school district made up entirely of charter schools.

The elementary schools within the district were based on the same expeditionary learning outward bound model as Palouse Prairie will be, in which all aspects of student learning are incorporated into different units, or "expeditions."

If students are studying presidential elections, for example, their reading, writing, math and science class lessons will be election-related as well.

A past unit Clayton worked on was "history through the eyes of the media." Students studied radio media when they learned about the Great Depression, incorporating math by making Depression-era family budgets.

"I think one of the things that make these expeditions so successful is not just the learning that takes place on the part of the students, but also on the part of the parents (and) the community, because everybody wants to be a part of it," she said.

Clayton said Palouse Prairie probably will wait until spring to implement its first "expedition," because of the sheer volume of work involved.

Despite the hard work, Clayton is passionate about this learning model, which she said would be impossible to give up now that she's found it.

"Teachers are teaching kids to take responsibility for themselves and their learning," she said. "It empowers kids."

Palouse Prairie was one of just two expeditionary learning schools looking for a director when Clayton began submitting applications.

"I did not want to go to a non-(expeditionary learning) school," she said.

Clayton said the movement is growing but job satisfaction is so high within the model that the turnover rate is low.

"Teachers like working there, administrators like working there, so they don't want to leave," she said. "So teachers don't move very often."

Clayton will live in Moscow with her partner and son.

Palouse Prairie is a free public charter school, located in the old Brown's Furniture Building on South Main Street. The school has seats available for fall in all grades but kindergarten.

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

Palouse Prairie officials getting building ready for classes to start this fall

By Halley Griffin, Daily News staff writer
July 3, 2009

Moscow's newest school is a hub of activity these days.

The Palouse Prairie School of Expeditionary Learning will become Moscow's second active charter school this fall, and one of the six sanctioned by the state of Idaho to open each year.

Parent and trustee committees are hard at work planning school lunches, student nutrition programs and playgrounds.

Architects, contractors and volunteers have been moving, cleaning, painting, pouring concrete, erecting walls and making plans for several months now, and hope to have their building ready for students by mid-August.

School Director Summer Clayton officially began her appointment July 1, and is already diving into work, and facility upgrades are in the home stretch.

"I feel like things are coming together, it's happening really fast," Palouse Prairie School Board member Lahde Forbes said.

Hearing the sounds of construction has been a relief for school board members who say securing a building has been their toughest task to date.

"Because we couldn't get our charter through the charter commission in Boise before we had a building that fits our needs," Forbes said. "That's what took a really long time, was simply finding a facility that works. And once that happened we could say, 'OK, this is when the first day is, this is what will happen next.' "

Plans for the building have steadily been moving forward since Brotnov Architecture was hired in January, with the exception of a few financial hiccups.

The school will be housed in the old Brown's Furniture building on South Main Street, and the board of trustees had hoped to spend about $120,000 on "phase one" of construction.

But bids came in around $200,000 and the board was forced to take out a loan to cover the rest of the cost.

Charter schools have only been around for a decade in Idaho, but already have a history of finding themselves unable to purchase facilities or make upgrades.

While they receive funding based on the same state formula as any other public school, charter schools are not included in a taxing district and cannot run bond or levy elections to pay for capital projects.

"Any little bit (of money) helps us, just because there's not much in the federal grant or coming from the state," school board member Daniela Monk said. "We're going to try some fundraising, but mainly the hope is going to be apply for grants."

Work this summer includes the most necessary upgrades like remodeling bathrooms and pouring concrete sidewalks outside the school, Monk said.

Phase one also includes erecting walls for the kindergarten and first-grade classrooms, although budget constrains prohibit doors, Monk said.

The building had a number of existing walls from its previous use as a furniture showroom, and the combined second- and third-grade classroom will be mostly enclosed with those walls.

The fourth- and fifth-grade area will be housed in the northwest corner of the building, and will be separated by bookshelves and other creative dividers.

The building itself is sunny and open, and Monk said part of the board's goal was to leave as much open wall space as possible to display student artwork.

Keeping walls open is just one example of the many ways school board members worked to keep the remodeling project in line with their priorities for the school.

"I can't say our facility is 'green,' but it's an adaptive reuse of a facility," Forbes said, adding that the bathrooms also will feature low-flush toilets and waterless urinals to stay true to the school's goal of using and reusing local products.

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