2022 Annual Report

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Idaho charter schools. Over the last decade, the state’s overall K-12 enrollment has grown by about 55,000 students, almost 20% of that new enrollment (10,422 students) has been in the state’s public charter schools. The Gem State boasts a robust mix of single-site schools, as well as several emerging charter school networks.

The Elevate Academy Network is successfully addressing an unmet demand with their 6-12th grade CTE model designed specifically for at-risk students. American Classical Schools of Idaho will work in coming years to offer their classical academic model to communities across the state.

Gem Innovation Schools, Idaho’s very first homegrown charter school network, is leveraging their high-performing online school to pioneer their innovative Learning Societies in Lewiston and Emmett.

Bluum is excited about three schools that will open in the next couple of years: Elevate Academy East in Idaho Falls, Gem Prep: Twin Falls, and Idaho Novus Classical Academy at Avimor, a planned community north of Boise.

NEW SCHOOLS OPENED IN 2022

ELEVATE ACADEMY NAMPA

486

New Seats | Grades 6-12

ELEVATE ACADEMY NORTH

308

New Seats | Grades 6-12

GEM PREP: MERIDIAN SOUTH

574

New Seats | Grades 6-12

$63,426,882

TOTAL COMBINED INVESTMENT

14,785

Combined Number of New Seats

PARTNER SCHOOLS BY COMMUNITY

From the rolling farmland of the Palouse Prairie to the far reaches of forested mountains, Bluum has supported 37 schools since 2014 in varied communities throughout our great state.

SCHOOLS

COMMUNITIES

GREAT LEADERS

For the past five years, Bluum has offered the Idaho New School Fellowship to help elevate top education talent into the ranks of Idaho’s public school leadership. This is the engine that drives all of our work with schools.

In 2022, Bluum welcomed Bruce Sims (left) and Vincent Kane (right) to the New School Fellowship Cohort, to participate in a two-year program that prepares future leaders to develop and launch an effective, innovative, and financially sustainable public charter school.

COMMUNITIES OF EXCELLENCE

2022 FEDERAL CSP PROGRAM RULE CHANGES

The U.S. Department of Education released a bevy of proposed and – in our view and that of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools – onerous changes to rules and requirements for subgrant applicants to the CSP program. Because the USDOE CSP program has supported new charter school growth in our fast growing state, Bluum led a group of Idaho parents to Washington D.C. to join over 1,000 charter school supporters and parents from across the country to advocate against the rule changes. For this work Bluum earned an Eddie Award from the PIE Network, sharing the honor with several other organizations for “Best Defense” around advocacy work.

CREDIT ENHANCEMENT FOR CHARTER SCHOOL FACILITES GRANT

The US Department of Education (USDOE) awarded Bluum a competitive $3.5 million CSP Credit Enhancement Grant. Bluum will use this grant to help support predevelopment costs for new charter school facilities. Financing the predevelopment phase of charter facility projects represents a real – and risky – challenge for new charters; this grant will allow Bluum to help schools navigate this pinch point.

$18,639,773

FEDERAL CSP GRANT FUNDING

SCHOOLS

as of June 2022

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

Through the Communities of Excellence Federal Grant Program, we are committed to providing high-quailty technical assistance to subgrantee schools and beyond. Civil Rights in Today’s School Environment, the Special Education Leadership Fellowship, are two highlights among ongoing teacher coaching, change management, and additional academic supports provided throughout the year.

Charter School Governance: The Essential Guide video series remains among the most-visited pages on our website.

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

NAEP scores released in 2022 held much troubling news for the performance of American students and offered some lessons for Idaho. NAEP is considered the “Gold Standard” for evaluating student performance over time across the nation’s schools. The 2022 results were a painful reminder of the impact of COVID-19 and school shutdowns on our students’ academic performance in Math and English.

In Idaho, 4th-graders scored far behind their 2019 scores. In reading, Idaho’s 4th-graders saw their average scale score decline from 223 to 215, and in math from 242 to 236. Truly troubling was the percentage of students performing below basic. In reading, this number jumped from 31% to 39% and in math from 18% to 24%.

Fourth-graders attending public charter schools outperformed these Idaho averages in both 2019 and 2022, but also saw a real decline in both reading and math performance. In reading, Idaho public charter schools saw a drop in scale score from 236 to 225 and in math from 251 to 238. As with traditional schools, public charters saw an increase in students at below basic from 2019 to 2022. In reading, this number jumped from 17% to 28% and in math from 10% to 23%.

Idaho students held their ground academically better than their peers across the country, which is likely a reflection of our schools reopening earlier than in other states and the fact many of our children still live in households with intact families that could provide learning opportunities when schools closed.

Despite the impact of COVID on student learning, Idaho public charter school performance remains high compared to the performance of students in Idaho’s traditional schools, and in 2022 they were some of the highest performing students in the nation across grades and subjects tested.

For NAEP data referenced in this article see: https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/ndecore/xplore/NDE

RESEARCH & RESOURCES

Commissioned by Bluum and prepared by Public Impact, the Idaho Charter School Market Analysis provided insight on Idaho’s new school growth and needs in two key ways:

– A population growth projection analysis to estimate future growth in school-age populations in each county and the state overall, and

– A quality seats analysis to identify areas in Idaho with the greatest need for high-quality school options.

With continued growth in student enrollment, public schools in Idaho—both traditional school districts and charter schools—have struggled to keep up with the need for new and expanded school facilities. To help illuminate the scale of the facility financing challenges in Idaho, and most importantly to offer up solutions, especially for public charter schools, Bluum partnered with the Florida-based Foundation for Excellence in Education (ExcelinEd) to generate the policy brief Building for Success in Idaho.

To ensure every child has the opportunity to reach their maximum potential, Idaho has created a marketplace of schools and learning opportunities. Our Parents’ Guide was the second-most visited page on our website in 2022. It helps parents understand their options for choosing the right type of education for their child(ren). We believe that providing information about Idaho’s many — and growing number — of learning choices can help parents make smarter decisions about what may work best for their families.