Groundbreaking set for new charter school

SANDPOINT -— Sandpoint Charter School will break ground Thursday on an innovative $3.3 million high school.

The new facility’s cutting-edge architectural design will translate into an ingenious learning environment that prepares students for life after high school The interior will be designed more like a corporate work environment and also will have little or no impact on the environment, said Principal Alan Millar.

“We’re trying to train kids to be in the work force,” he said.

While the economic downturn has left many people struggling with personal finances and with unemployment at its highest level in the past 30 years, it is a good time to build for those who have funding available because contractors prices have dropped as they compete for fewer jobs.

School officials hope that translates into having the financial resources to building a Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design-certified school. LEED-certified buildings must be built using sustainable building practices which have little, if any, impact on the environment.

A new Sandpoint Ranger Station building being constructed on Ontario also is seeking the same designation.

“We are hopeful that the current economic times mean that we can afford more building for our dollars,” Millar wrote in an e-mail.

The 20,000-square-foot school will be built east of the existing school on Ontario Street, on partially treed property the school already owns. Its construction will eliminate about a third of the charter school’s soccer field.

The ground breaking will take place at 1 p.m. on Thursday.

Financing the project

Millar received confirmation Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved a portion of the project funding through its Rural Development program.

Several months ago, with the help of loan officer Matt Mire of Mountain West Bank, the bank approved a $550,000 construction loan to help pay for construction. However, until school officials received a letter of intent that indicated the USDA would provide loan funding for a majority of the project, it could not move forward.

Unfortunately, it took longer for the school to receive its paperwork because at the same time USDA employees also were charged with administering stimulus funding. Initially, the charter school had considered applying for stimulus funds, but decided the process would add three to four months to the project, Millar said, smiling at the irony.

The school has now received word it will get a $1.65 million USDA loan, in addition to an $81,000 USDA grant. The bank loan and federal financing account for about 70 percent of the project. The school will seek private foundation grants and federal grants for innovative educational projects to cover the remaining 30 percent of funding, Millar said.

The school also has access to an additional $1.1 million through the USDA if needed, he said.

The design

Sandpoint’s CTA Architects Engineers came up with an architectural plan that took the lead from Sandpoint Charter’s Schools students, Millar said.

“It’s a very different design inside than most (high schools),” Millar said. “It’s almost like a corporate work environment.”

CTA staff spent several days speaking with Sandpoint Charter’s students, teachers and janitors and observing how the existing facility’s space is used for learning.

What CTA discovered is that most learning at Sandpoint Charter takes place outside the classroom in the school’s common areas.

Pleased with Sandpoint Charter’s project-based learning curriculum, staff and parents wanted to continue with that approach in its high school.

The building, which will face south to take advantage of the sunlight, primarily will be open and have few traditional classrooms. The large open area will be used by students for projects and larger school gatherings, while the classrooms can be used for math and other classes which need a quieter environment.

It also will take less time and money to build the school because of the design’s simplicity. Hallways add a lot of money to the cost of school construction, he said.

Students will have their own work stations in the open area and hopefully their own laptop computers, depending upon funding availability. Teachers also have work stations in those areas to promote interaction with students.

Rather than having their own lockers, students will be given locked drawers in their work space for storage.

To keep costs down, the building will not have a gym. Idaho does not require students to have physical education credits to graduate, however students who want to earn physical education credits through life sports can petition to do so, Millar said.

High school students will use the existing school’s kitchen.

Eighth grade students also have helped CTA staff with the design, have had a say in the new school’s colors and have participate in a class taught once a week by the firm’s employees, Millar said.

The bid phase opened on Friday and adheres to federal guidelines, giving Sandpoint Charter School board members the right to enter into contract with the lower bidder if they have concerns about the contractor’s history. The bid phase is open for two weeks.

Idaho Code requires that traditional school districts accept the lowest bidder on a project.

So far, 45 students are signed up for fall; space is available for 85 to 90 new students this fall. In all, the new high school will have room for 150 to 200 students.

CTA designed Glacier High School in Kalispell, Mont. The high school has a pod-concept that breaks the student population into smaller groups with the goal of creating smaller and more effective learning environments.

Curriculum

Sandpoint Charter School’s backers are planning for a high school which will demand academic rigor, Millar said.

“This will not be easy,” Millar said.

By adding 12 days and a trimester model to the school’s schedule, students who want to accelerate and finish high school in the first trimester of their senior year can do so, he said. On the other hand, students who struggle with a particular class can repeat the course and still graduate with their classmates, he said.

Currently, Sandpoint Charter School’s middle school students attend school for 168 days.

Several of the current charter school’s existing staff also will teach some high school courses, plus five new full-time teachers have been hired to teach at the high school level. The board also has hired a Berklee College of Music graduate to teach music part-time and a part-time art teacher for the high school.

High school students also will have the opportunity for dual enrollment with Sandpoint High School to take courses not offered at their school.

What will happen this fall

Sandpoint Charter High School will open this fall for freshmen and sophomores, however those students will attend school in the existing charter school until the new school opens. The high school students will be on a different schedule and access the school through a different entrance, to keep the them separate from the other students.

Millar expects its will take about a year before the new school is open for business.

It has been less than a year since Lake Pend Oreille School District trustees agreed to a modification of the school’s charter so that it can offer high school courses in addition to its sixth- through eighth-grade program.

If the school district had refused Sandpoint Charter School’s request to add a high school to its charter, it could have easily added five years to the project, Millar said.

“I think it’s safe to say we have one of the best working relationships with our chartering district in the state,” he said.