Parents Nancy Wilder, Lahde Forbes, and Dwena Nosebar along with PPS Board Chair Nils Peterson visited Summit School in Spokane Valley on Friday April 13. It was a lucky day, we saw the school in action and met with ELS School Designer Lorri Edwards, who is the designer assigned to Palouse Prairie School.
A request for each of the parents was that they write a reflection on what impressed them about the visit. These will be collected on a new feature in the Palouse Prairie website called WhyPalousePrairie. That page will be a place for voices of parents and community members to explain what they see at EL schools and/or how they see EL meeting the learning needs of their specific child.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Launching the Campaign for students and site
Palouse Prairie Charter School seeks students, site
Proposed school has first hearing before Idaho Public Charter School Commission
By Kate Baldwin, Daily News staff writer
Monday, April 9, 2007 - Page Updated at 12:00:00 AM
The Palouse Prairie Charter School is looking for students and a building before its second hearing with the Idaho Public Charter School Commission, which is set for May 24.
"What we are setting out to do is to find 140 kids and a facility by May 24," said Nils Peterson, who serves as the proposed charter school's board chairman.
Peterson compared these requirements for getting a charter to the classic chicken-and-egg problem.
"Without a chicken, it's hard to do some of these things," he said. "The commission is very clear: 'You get the egg and we'll give you the chicken.' "
Peterson was one of four board members and other supporters who attended the April 5 hearing in Boise. They presented their proposal and answered questions from the commission and its staff.
"I was encouraged by how positive they were," Peterson said.
He said three members of the commission already had had positive experiences with the proposed school's Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound model of learning, "so they were supportive of the model we were choosing."
The commission did raise concerns about the school's plans for transpor tation and its ability to find an external academic auditor.
Peterson said these solutions are quite easy. The proposed school would use a group called the Idaho Charter School Network to perform the academic audit. Meanwhile, Moscow School District Superintendent Candis Donicht offered the transportation solution. Peterson said Donicht gave her assurances at the meeting that the charter school will be able to contract with the district for those services.
The commission also set the date for the proposed Palouse Prairie Charter School to return, but did not make a final decision on its petition.
"We didn't expect a final answer," Peterson said. "The commission sent us back to work on two things."
The commission wanted to know if the Moscow community was big enough to support two charter schools and if a facility could be found that will get zoning approval.
"In Moscow, there is the complicating factor that you can't put a school anywhere without a (conditional use permit)," he said.
Peterson said the proposed school's board is brainstorming solutions for these two issues. There already are about 90 students on the list of interested families, so establishing a solid plan for a facility likely will be the bigger challenge.
There are many ideas out there. Peterson said the school could be housed in a shared public building, in a mobile unit on a vacant lot, or even in a mall.
"We'll be appealing to the community," Peterson said.
He said there are plans to grow support through a number of upcoming events like spring tours of other expeditionary learning schools on Friday and May 4, and a workshop on understanding student portfolios on May 26. There also is a tentative community meeting scheduled for May 31 in the 1912 Center in Moscow.
Board members previously have funded the school's start-up costs out of their own pockets.
"We're at the point where we need to raise funds," Peterson said.
He said the proposed charter school is operating in "year zero" because there will be many costs before the doors can open. The pieces needed for this phase range from hiring a director and teachers to buying furniture and supplies.
Peterson said once the charter is approved, it can receive an advance from the state. That money would come out of its first year's budget.
"If we spend the advance, we'd be robbing Peter to pay Paul," he said.
Peterson said the proposed school is ready for any help to step forward, through donations or other support.
"We need some kind of an angel," he said.
* More information on the school and the upcoming tours, workshops, and community meeting can be found at palouseprairieschool.org. Interested parties also can call Jessica Rivers at (208) 858-2025 to sign up for these activities.
QUICKREAD
* WHAT HAPPENED: The proposed Palouse Prairie Charter School presented its petition for permission to operate to the Idaho Public Charter School Commission.
* WHAT IT MEANS: The commission advised the proposed school on its concerns for a building, whether enough students are available and other technical needs. The commission also set a date for the proposed school's board members to return with a plan for addressing these issues.
* WHAT HAPPENS NEXT: The proposed charter school will return to the commission on May 24 for its second hearing.
* WHY YOU SHOULD CARE: The school is projected to open in August 2008 with approximately 125 students. It would serve students in kindergarten through sixth grade, with the goal of growing to serve students in seventh and eighth grades. The school follows the Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound model of learning, which focuses on academic content and real-world projects.
Kate Baldwin can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 239, or by e-mail at kbaldwin@dnews.com.
Monday, April 9, 2007
Palouse Prairie Expedition to the ICSC
Palouse Prairie School had its day in the sun with the Idaho Charter School Commission (April 5). Commission staff had provided comments on the petition prior to the hearing. The comments were clear and the Palouse Prairie Board was able to address many of them prior to the hearing. Several Commissioners expressed awareness and appreciation of the Expeditionary Learning model chosen by Palouse Prairie. Commissioners focused on two questions critical to the success of the school:
1) Is Moscow large enough to support two charter schools? Can Palouse Prairie School raise enough enrollment to be successful?
2) Can Palouse Prairie School solve its facilities problem, which consists of two elements – locating/funding an adequate facility and getting past the City of Moscow Conditional Use Permit process. The first element of that problem is fiscal, the second potentially political.
These two issues can be seen as facets of the third concern of the Commission – budgetary soundness. Enrollment is the key driver of state financial support to the school and facilities are one of the major costs (following teacher salaries).
Another topic discussed at the hearing was transportation to school and Expedition-related travel. Palouse Prairie School appreciates the willingness of Candis Donicht, superintendent of Moscow Schools, to contract to provide yellow busses. Bussing is connected to the facilities issue. The District busses students to hubs where they transfer and complete their journey to school. If PPS were to locate a school far from a hub, there would be considerable travel time from hub to school, which would impact length of the PPS school day and push it below state minimums.
Discussion of these and other topics will appear shortly in the audio transcript of the meeting on the Commission website http://www.chartercommission.id.gov/meetings.asp.
The Commission deferred a decision on the Palouse Prairie Charter until its May 24 meeting and invited PPS to come back with answers to those key questions. Knowing that it was not possible to solve the facilities problem (especially since it requires hearings before the Zoning Board of Adjustment) the Commission indicated various ways PPS might demonstrate having a grip on the problem that could lead to a successful solution.
Returning from Boise, the Board of Palouse Prairie School is launching a twin initiative to address the Commission’s concerns: a campaign to find 140 children and a facility.
“We are Crew, not Passengers” is the motto of Expeditionary Learning. Palouse Prairie School will use that motto to guide its approach to these challenges. The first step is to recruit a crew – families of 140 or more children who are interested in attending the school. We will not only ask families if they are interested in attending, but ask them to say “Why,” in terms of their child’s needs and their beliefs about how PPSEL will be organized to meet those needs. Those “Whys” will be shared within the community to help inform others. That crew will not be able to sit by and wait for a school. Their ideas, energy and voice will also be needed to find a creative solution to the facilities problem.
Two broad directions to solving the facilities problem need to be explored: within the City and outside it. Solutions within the City are preferable for many reasons, including walking to school and access to community resources, but sites outside city limits may not have the same political/ zoning problems, and hence be more expedient and convincing to the Commissioners.
In terms of facilities themselves, two solutions need to be examined – existing buildings (with attendant remodeling issues) and green field sites (with attendant issues of using modular buildings for expedience).
This gives us a 2x2 matrix to explore: in and outside the City, existing buildings and green fields. It should be fairly easy to explore on of the cells (existing buildings outside the City), the other three will require more effort, which probably needs to start with zoning code research and learning the rules governing where a school can be sited.
1) Is Moscow large enough to support two charter schools? Can Palouse Prairie School raise enough enrollment to be successful?
2) Can Palouse Prairie School solve its facilities problem, which consists of two elements – locating/funding an adequate facility and getting past the City of Moscow Conditional Use Permit process. The first element of that problem is fiscal, the second potentially political.
These two issues can be seen as facets of the third concern of the Commission – budgetary soundness. Enrollment is the key driver of state financial support to the school and facilities are one of the major costs (following teacher salaries).
Another topic discussed at the hearing was transportation to school and Expedition-related travel. Palouse Prairie School appreciates the willingness of Candis Donicht, superintendent of Moscow Schools, to contract to provide yellow busses. Bussing is connected to the facilities issue. The District busses students to hubs where they transfer and complete their journey to school. If PPS were to locate a school far from a hub, there would be considerable travel time from hub to school, which would impact length of the PPS school day and push it below state minimums.
Discussion of these and other topics will appear shortly in the audio transcript of the meeting on the Commission website http://www.chartercommission.id.gov/meetings.asp.
The Commission deferred a decision on the Palouse Prairie Charter until its May 24 meeting and invited PPS to come back with answers to those key questions. Knowing that it was not possible to solve the facilities problem (especially since it requires hearings before the Zoning Board of Adjustment) the Commission indicated various ways PPS might demonstrate having a grip on the problem that could lead to a successful solution.
Returning from Boise, the Board of Palouse Prairie School is launching a twin initiative to address the Commission’s concerns: a campaign to find 140 children and a facility.
“We are Crew, not Passengers” is the motto of Expeditionary Learning. Palouse Prairie School will use that motto to guide its approach to these challenges. The first step is to recruit a crew – families of 140 or more children who are interested in attending the school. We will not only ask families if they are interested in attending, but ask them to say “Why,” in terms of their child’s needs and their beliefs about how PPSEL will be organized to meet those needs. Those “Whys” will be shared within the community to help inform others. That crew will not be able to sit by and wait for a school. Their ideas, energy and voice will also be needed to find a creative solution to the facilities problem.
Two broad directions to solving the facilities problem need to be explored: within the City and outside it. Solutions within the City are preferable for many reasons, including walking to school and access to community resources, but sites outside city limits may not have the same political/ zoning problems, and hence be more expedient and convincing to the Commissioners.
In terms of facilities themselves, two solutions need to be examined – existing buildings (with attendant remodeling issues) and green field sites (with attendant issues of using modular buildings for expedience).
This gives us a 2x2 matrix to explore: in and outside the City, existing buildings and green fields. It should be fairly easy to explore on of the cells (existing buildings outside the City), the other three will require more effort, which probably needs to start with zoning code research and learning the rules governing where a school can be sited.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Presenting the Charter to ICSC
The Idaho Public Charter School Commission (ICSC) will hear the Palouse Prairie School petition in its meeting on Thurs April 5, 2007 (link is to the agenda/minutes page). The Board has been busy revising some items in the petition in response to feedback from the ICSC staff. There is a way to dial in and listen to the proceedings live, and later they will post the audio to their website. Here is the last draft of the remarks Nils Peterson will present to the commission.
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