The role of Adventure

"Learning expeditions" are long-term, "real world" investigations, by teachers and students, of compelling subjects, which culminate in public presentations. Expeditions often involve an element of adventure that is integral with the learning activity. But EL also recognizes a role for "adventure" that is not integrated into an Expedition.

To learn more about Adventure and to think about its role in the learning enterprise, the Board went to the UI climbing wall on Sunday Jan 11.

Lahde writes of the event: "Our climbing wall adventure was important because it facilitated a bonding experience that strengthened our ability, as a board, to care and collaborate with one another. We were literally entrusting our lives to our fellow board members who kept us from falling and who supported us through the challenges we faced during our climb. Our time at the climbing wall also jump started our relationship to one another by being in a new adventuresome environment where only the activity at hand was our focus.....there was no business directly relating to Palouse Prairie School tasks, yet inadvertently we strengthened our ability to work together as a board to successfully create our school."

Nils notes, "At one point early on I said to John, 'If I am able to go higher now depends on how much I trust you to catch me if I fall.' Trust in one's support gives the license to push harder and take larger risks which might be the key to success. Thinking about the trajectories of success and failure, having the trust and taking the good risks offers the paths to success, lacking the trust, or having it broken when the risks are not back-stopped would be the trajectory to failure.

The Enrollment Marketing Campaign

We are kicking off our marketing efforts for the open enrollment period, February 1-March 27 preceding the lottery. The deep marketing last fall involved an EL 101 session and a trip to Summit, as well as stories in the Food CO-OP newsletter.

As we go into Spring, the campaign ramps up with a public visit by our Principal Candidate, Lawrence Levy on January 10, 10AM 1912 Center Fiske Room and this display in the Moscow-Latah County Library, which will be up for the month of January.

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

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 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.