Idaho Public Charter School Commission to receive proposed Moscow school's petition in April
By Kate Baldwin, Daily News staff writer
Wednesday, March 7, 2007 - Page Updated at 11:41:42 AM
The proposed Palouse Prairie Charter School could be one step closer to opening.
Palouse Prairie Charter School Board Chairman Nils Peterson said the Idaho Public Charter School Commission is scheduled to receive the school's charter petition at its April 5 meeting in Boise.
"The important part is it starts the clock," he said. "It's exciting as a milestone. This whole thing is a process."
The commission will have 60 days to hold a public meeting after it receives the charter. From the date of the meeting, the commission will have another 60 days to hold a hearing and render a decision.
Getting an early start makes a big difference for a new charter school trying to open, since Idaho law only allows six new public charter schools to open each year. These schools are chosen based on the time of their application.
According to the commission's manual for charter schools, "as new charter schools are approved each year, the State Board of Education assigns them numbers on a chronological basis. The six public charter schools authorized to begin instruction during a given school year will be those that have been assigned the lowest numbers."
Each charter school has its own focus.
The Palouse Prairie Charter School is projected to open in August 2008 with approximately 125 students, which is roughly the same size as the Moscow Charter School. The school will serve students in kindergarten through sixth grade, with the goal of growing to serve students in seventh and eighth grades.
The Palouse Prairie Charter School will use the Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound model of learning, which focuses on academic content and real-world projects. More than 140 schools across the nation are now using this system.
"The schools are not carbon copies of each other," Peterson said.
The Palouse Prairie Charter School Board is organizing spring expeditions to review some of the regional ELOB schools including Summit School in Spokane Valley and Kettle Falls Elementary School in Kettle Falls, Wash. These schools were developed by Lorri Edwards, a school designer based in Spokane.
Peterson said he expects that Edwards will be assigned to develop the curriculum and programs at the proposed Moscow school as well.
The tours of these schools are open to parents, teachers and students in the University of Idaho and Washington State University colleges of education. They will meet Edwards and get to ask questions.
"We want participants to bring back something for themselves and the community," he said.
Peterson said expedition participants may be asked to form their own mini-projects, similar to the projects that future students will complete, to try out the system during the tours. He said each participant can come up with their own contribution during the day trips. These might look like a letter to the editor or a suggestion for the student handbook.
"It's not a big-time commitment beyond the trip itself," he said. "What I hope is the participants will use their time in their carpool to reflect on what they saw and how that differs from a traditional school."
Peterson said the board also is organizing a workshop for parents to learn more about how to talk about schoolwork and assignments with their children. It will also show parents how to use the school's rubrics, which are the qualitative assessment tools to measure progress and learning.
Peterson said he got the idea while working to develop the rubrics for the proposed charter school. At the same time, he was trying to talk to his daughter about her Montessori school and her artwork.
"I wanted to say more to my daughter than 'I like it' when she showed me a drawing," he said. "Other parents are faced with the same challenge of talking with their child about their child's learning."
Peterson said the workshop will give parents a chance to think about other constructive ways to engage their child.
"I hope that these activities give the community a richer sense of what the Palouse Prairie Charter School will be," he said.
n The expedition to Summit School in the Spokane Valley will be April 13. The expedition to Kettle Falls Elementary School will be May 4. The workshop will take place sometime after spring break. Those interested in participating may contact Peterson at nilspete@gmail.com, or Jessica Rivers by phone at (208) 858-2025, or by e-mail at bjzrivers@cpcinternet.com.
Kate Baldwin can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 239, or by e-mail at kbaldwin@dnews.com.
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