Bluum is a nonprofit organization helping Idaho become a national model for how to maximize learning outcomes for children and families.
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.
Results from the focus groups and survey of Idaho parents who received funding from Idaho’s Empowering Parents grant program. These findings are based on an online survey conducted January 17-26, 2023, with 359 parents who applied for an Empowering Parents grant. The survey work was conducted by the New York City-based FDR Group and funded by the Walton Family Foundation. Bluum was proud to coordinate the efforts on the ground in Idaho. Our hope is that this work helps strengthen support for the Empowering Parents Program while also providing ideas for improvements.
Four Idaho public charter schools have been awarded $1,913,068 in federal funding from Idaho’s Communities of Excellence Federal Charter Schools Program (CSP). This is the seventh and final round of grant awards under the terms of this competitive CSP grant. The grant awards are aimed at increasing the number of high-quality public charter school seats for Idaho families and students.
These grants will allow the four subgrantee schools to add a total of 1,702 new students. Funding comes from a $22 million U.S. Department of Education grant awarded to Bluum in 2018.
By Alan Gottlieb
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the learning disruptions and isolation it created, schools are seeing extreme behaviors among a wider array of students than ever before – behaviors that used to be seen mostly in students identified as needing special education services for behavioral issues. These behaviors are putting stress on families, educators, and students, and making it more challenging for schools to return to what was once considered a normal learning environment.
By Jennifer Ribordy
To address the challenges, several Idaho public charter schools are leading the way by intentionally working together on the prevention and management of crises level student behaviors. Since September of 2020, these partners have worked with Bluum to demonstrate their commitment to prioritizing student safety by investing time and financial resources into ongoing training focused on building a “culture of prevention” relative to intensive student behaviors.
By Alan Gottlieb
Idaho has long been a state where the concept of local control of public education is sacrosanct, where parental choice is seen as a top value and where public charter schools have proliferated and thrived. How does Critchfield envision her new role, and the Idaho Department of Education’s place in the state’s education ecosystem? What lessons can Idaho teach the rest of the country? I recently interviewed Critchfield to get her perspective on these issues.