We empower, invest in, and support educational leaders who take risks and put children first.
LET LEARNING GROW.
EMPOWER
We empower educational leaders in the Gem State by providing one- or two-year fellowships to those who take risks and put children first.
INVEST
In partnership with the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Family Foundation, Bluum serves as a funding intermediary and local champion for supporting entrepreneurial education ventures.
SUPPORT & IMPROVE
Bluum provides partner schools with additional services and technical assistance. Our team can help elevate the business of running a school by reviewing financial infrastructure and identifying areas of strength and areas for improvement.
DISCOVER & INFORM
Bluum has become a go-to resource on education research and innovation. We aim to share the work of Idaho’s high performing schools and outstanding educators. Our hope is that it can become a national model for helping all children reach their fullest potential.
$20,392,682
FEDERAL CHARTER SCHOOLS PROGRAM INVESTMENT
17,822
TOTAL NEW SCHOOL SEATS CREATED
35
TOTAL IDAHO SCHOOLS SUPPORTED
$86,315,274
TOTAL PHILANTHROPIC INVESTMENT
Job Opening –
Idaho Special Education Director Fellowship
If you are interested in this opportunity, please email your resume, cover letter, and references to jribordy@bluum.org with the subject line: “Special Education Director Fellow Application.”
Applications must be received by midnight MT on April 1, 2025.
Learn More Here
Stories
Anyone who follows public education in Idaho closely knows that since arriving here a decade ago, Teach for America (TFA) has had an indelible, positive impact on the state. A broad spectrum of alumni exemplify that impact. Whether they served as one of the 150 TFA corps members for two years in Idaho or served elsewhere and then moved here, many of the 30 or so alumni living in Idaho continue to be deeply involved in charter schools, district schools, and state policymaking. “Teach For America’s goal is to advance opportunities for all students in Idaho, but particularly for students at a disadvantage, so that they can have the futures they want for themselves,” said Tony Ashton, who has been TFA Idaho’s executive director from day one. “By acting as a strategic talent partner and bringing more great leaders into Idaho’s education system, and then supporting their ongoing development, we’re helping to create the conditions for this to be possible.”
We know from conversations with charter school leaders in other states that the facility financing work being done in Idaho is the most innovative charter school facility financing effort in the country. It’s a powerful example of the private/philanthropic sector working with the public sector and the Legislature to finance charter facilities in ways, and at costs, currently not possible in other states. The new report from Bluum and ExcelinEd, Reducing Facility Costs: How Idaho is Helping Charter Schools Focus Resources on Instruction, examines Idaho’s innovative policies and partnerships that have saved over $110 million in facility financing costs for charter schools. These groundbreaking efforts have allowed schools to allocate resources toward hiring an average of 10 additional teachers per school—all without additional taxpayer expense.
It should come as no surprise that Gem Prep, the Idaho-based charter school network, has leapt ahead of the pack in its use of artificial intelligence for teacher planning and classroom instruction. Gem Prep, after all, has a strong reputation for being on the cutting edge of education innovation, particularly in the use of technology. It started as a single online school in 2004, and by the fall of 2027 will have expanded to eight in-person campuses as well as the thriving online school and a couple of blended learning pods known as Learning Societies. Gem Prep was also a 2024 Yass Prize semifinalist. But as with any new technology, the charter network has been cautious and thoughtful in its rollout of AI. “You have to balance a new technology and its uses,” said Laurie Wolfe, Gem Prep’s chief academic officer, and an avid user of AI for her own work and life. “There’s always going to be good, and there’s probably always going to be ways to use it for ill.”
Hispanic Parents Talk About Schools & Life in Idaho
Idaho's Communities of Excellence Charter School Grant
Idaho Education by the Numbers
English
Spanish
