Academy is dream for students, teacher

SANDPOINT — For Melinda Rossman, running the new Homeschool Academy is a dream come true.

Her enthusiasm for teaching and for her students is evident as she spends nights without sleep, thinking about her students and their needs.

"And I will do that for the rest of my life — well, for the next eight years, and then I am going to retire," she said.

Rossman said she is like the grandma who spoils the grandkids. Although she never had children of her own, teaching kids is her passion.

"I chose not to have children for a lot of reasons," she said. "Instead, I chose to become an educator and teach other people's children, and that’s my gift. I know how connect with kids."

As the Homeschool Academy approaches its spring session, the first year of the new school has so far been a success.

In August, before the fall session began, Rossman said she would like to see 100 students enrolled by the end of the year. Although she hasn't reached that goal, she is almost halfway there with 44 students enrolled. She started the year with 16 students, which quickly grew to 24 and topped out at 46, but two moved away, she said.

Shawn Woodward, superintendent of the Lake Pend Oreille School District, said district officials are "pleasantly surprised" with the number of students in the program.

"I thought it would be great if we could have 30 by the end of the year, and to have 45 at this point is a testament to Melinda," Woodward said. "Her work has just been phenomenal ... Part of having a successful program, the biggest part, was hiring the right person, and I think we have just the perfect teacher with just the right background — and that's the reason we are so successful at this point."

The program continues to grow because the program is flexible and people can see that Rossman is really listening, Woodward said, adding that he would not be surprised to see 150-200 enrolled in the program over the next couple years.

One crucial piece to the success of the program is trust, Rossman said, and the children and parents who have come to know her throughout the year have come to trust her. The parents are always invited to attend school with their kids as well.

"I want to open it up to the hundreds of families here who don't know they can trust me," Rossman said. "... I may not do everything right, I may not please every parent, but if they open the door to the possibility of me being an educator in their family, they are going to see that I can do brilliant things with their child."

The Homeschool Academy provides supplemental learning to home-schoolers in grades K-8. Students are only required to attend a minimum of two-and-a-half hours per week.

"The Homeschool Academy is specifically generating opportunities for kids to have extracurricular activities at no cost," Rossman said. "Through a public school forum, the Lake Pend Oreille School District, we are creating amazing opportunities for families."

During the winter session, for example, 29 of the kids joined her for alpine skiing and cross country skiing, all the while learning about snowpack and how it affects water levels and water quality, which in turn affects the Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer, she said. In the fall, her curriculum surrounded the aquatic environment of the Lake Pend Oreille basin, birds of prey and waterfowl.  

The spring session is all about dendrology, botany and horticulture, she said. Lake Pend Oreille High School officials are allowing her to use two plots in the greenhouse, so after spring break, she and the students will be "learning to ride the SPOT bus" to the alternative school to plant and maintain the plots.

Rossman has spent 39 years of her life as an educator, she said, with 25 years as a ski instructor and 19 years as a forest service ranger, creating programs for wilderness education. She also has two master's degrees in education and leadership and is considering a doctorate. She said one thing she likes about the non-traditional setting of the Homeschool Academy is that she is able to create her own curriculum and, in fact, has already started to create the calendar for next fall.

As the school grows and she learns the needs of the families she serves, the curriculum changes and grows as well.

"There is so much planning — creating and planning," Rossman said.

She recently partnered with the Sandpoint Conservatory, so the students now have the opportunity to participate in introduction to theater and introduction to guitar. Wednesdays are always field days, where they go on educational outings to places like Schweitzer, and Friday's are what she calls "free choice Friday." The students have been learning Spanish and next year will learn Latin as well.

With the expanding number of students and activities, the small, second-floor area of the building they are currently occupying will not be sufficient for long. Rossman said she would like to get into a one-story building, which would also allow ADA compliance, with about 5,000 square feet of space.

"We are definitely on the lookout for another space," Woodward said. "We need a bigger space and we need something on a lower floor."

As an "amateur gourmet chef," Rossman said she would also like to have a kitchen or an area that could be converted into a kitchen. This would provide her with yet another opportunity to mix up the curriculum and teach the kids some culinary skills, as well as nutrition. Then, on free choice Fridays, students will make lunch for those who attend that day.

Woodward said the program is funded by the state based on attendance, so the dollars that come in fund the overhead cost and is running “very close” to cost neutral.

"We monitor that really closely and next year with increased students we will be receiving more revenue, and with more revenue we will be able to expand the program," Woodward said.

And Rossman is looking forward to expanding the program more than anyone.

"This is the highlight of my educational career," Rossman said.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.