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.

First Post

This blog is the newsletter of Palouse Prairie School of Expeditionary Learning.

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The website of the school is PalousePrairieSchool.org where recent posts for this blog, and the School Boards' blog and the Board calendar appear, along with other resource links.

Notice and Wonder

On Fri, April 13, I visited Summit School in the Spokane Valley, now in its 4th year as an Expeditionary Learning school. I was impressed by the ability of children in the Kindergarten class to cooperate and to reflect on their performance.

The scene: The children were seated in a circle that included us adult visitors. They did a greeting around the circle, greeting the neighbor on each side of them by name.

Before starting the next activity, the teacher asked the children to talk about ideas of success. She noted that there might be other kinds of success besides doing the activity. Students offered: good listening or good directions, improvement in the activity, cooperation (working together). [I later noticed that these might be dimensions in a rubric for assessing the activity.]

The teacher introduced the task called "four-man pushup." The task involves four children lying on the floor in a square, where each child hooks their feet over the mid-back of one student and has another's feet over their back.

The first round was a demonstration by one team, with a chance to observe by the others.

The challenge was for the students to communicate to one another about what was required to get into this arrangement, who should lay down first, who put their feet up to fit the next child in, etc. Then when they were ready, they counted 1-2-3 and pushed up with their hands, raising all four bodies.

Following the activity, the teacher directed one child to get a marker and another a piece of paper and for the team to make notes on their performance. They each wrote an observation about the activity. All this happened quickly and smoothly, clearly this activity was practiced.

All the while the other children watched the performance and the teacher provide a little meta-analysis (noting the turn-taking during the reflections, or how one student offered to scribe for another who spoke her observation.

Divided into teams of four, the whole class did the activity, in an organized and cooperative manner.

What was also impressive was that the teams could quickly be formed, and that each team found its own leadership, did the activity, and moved on to reflected on what they did, making sure each make a written contribution.

Back in the big circle the teacher asked the children to reflect on their reflections (called Notice and Wonder) and look for "Big Ideas" that could help them in this activity and in other activities. The students came up with: "Worked together" and "On topic."