Bluum is a nonprofit organization helping Idaho become a national model for how to maximize learning outcomes for children and families.
By Sarah Meskin
The Idaho Youth Ranch has officially brought its latest project to life: The Residential Center for Healing and Resilience. Within this 24/7 Residential Center is Promise Academy, a year-round public charter school. My organization, Bluum, provided federal Charter School Program (CSP) grant support and technical assistance to the school and its authorizer the Middleton School District.
Treasure Valley Classical Academy has been my home for the last 4 years and I am forever grateful for the opportunity to be part of their opening in 2019 and the continual expansion. Our focus is on providing a wonderfully rich, classical education with a huge emphasis on developing future citizens who show great virtue and can see the beauty in the world around them. My role in the school started out in a Kindergarten classroom where every day was filled with wonder and aha moments with the curriculum.
By Sarah Meskin
One of the central themes during the summit revolved around fostering inclusion and emphasizing how important it is that students of all abilities have the same access to resources and opportunities. By providing students equal access, they are able to thrive in specific learning environments for a variety of reasons, whether that be language based, having extra help if needed, feeling emotionally safe or simply having their progress tracked and sent to parents.
By Darren Svan, Idaho Ed News
The 64-student Promise Academy school will be located on the campus of the Idaho Youth Ranch’s (IYR) new Residential Center for Healing and Resilience, a residential treatment facility — which means 24-hour care — for ages 11-17 experiencing severe mental health and behavioral issues.
The fastest-growing student demographic in Idaho is Hispanic students. Through our new study, Here to Stay, we sought to learn more about the experiences of Idaho’s Hispanic parents around their education hopes, concerns, and opportunities. We are hopeful the findings from this research study can help Idaho’s leaders better design policies in each of these areas.
by Terry Ryan
Going back 25 years, the legislative intent of Idaho’s public charter school law was to have charters serve as laboratories of innovation that traditional school systems can learn from and build on. When it comes to building and financing facilities for students our charter schools have some important lessons to share.
By Alan Gottlieb
It’s safe to say that rarely has a public charter school been as welcomed into a community by the local school district and seemingly everyone else as Elevate Academy East, a career and technical education middle and high school opening in the summer of 2024 in the Idaho Falls area. It will be Idaho’s fourth Elevate Academy.
Darren Svan, Idaho Ed News
This story originally appeared on Idaho Ed News
As Bluum awards the last federal grant funds that five years ago kicked off the rapid expansion of charter schools, the organization predicts 2,800 more seats and eight more schools than originally promised. While those results can’t be celebrated until the last six schools are built and the other 22 completed schools finish growing, Bluum expects to fly by their expansion expectations, made to the U.S. Department of Education in 2018. And with a new Department of Education grant application process currently underway, and millions of dollars more of federal grant money up for grabs, Bluum is back to work looking for opportunities, new innovations and partnerships. The organization has not applied yet, but expects to make that decision this spring.