Charter school plans to open second eastern Idaho campus next year. Here’s where it will be
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IDAHO FALLS – Parents interested in alternatives for their students’ education will soon have another option.
Gem Prep Charter School is planning to break ground on a new building on Ammon Road and Greenwillow Lane in September. Jason Bransford, the CEO of its seven locations throughout Idaho, tells EastIdahoNews.com Gem Prep is an independent charter school, which means it will be outside the jurisdiction of Bonneville Joint School District 93.
The 45,000-square-foot building is slated for completion in July 2025. A public hearing about the proposed school will be held Wednesday, Feb. 7 at 2135 South Ammon Road.
Though Gem Prep offers K-12, its primary objective is preparing students for college without any tuition costs. High school students at Gem Prep take college-level courses with the goal of having an associate’s degree at graduation.
“If we can get them halfway to the finish line by the time they finish high school, we think that sets up students for success,” Bransford says.
In addition to providing a strong academic foundation, Bransford says they also focus on competency skills, like time management, written and verbal communication and the ability to prioritize tasks.
Students in the Ammon area will have first priority for enrollment, but it will be open to others if those seats aren’t filled.
The Ammon campus will be the school’s eighth location, the second one in eastern Idaho. A Pocatello location opened in 2014.
Bransford says there were a lot of students in the Ammon area who were already enrolled in Gem Prep online. Efforts to get an Ammon location were prompted by public demand, he says, and this particular spot is centrally located for interested parties.
“This location hit the market about the time we started getting serious about looking for a piece of property. It was the right size and … we felt like it was centrally located enough that students could access it from nearly anywhere in the area,” Bransford says.
Gem Prep is one of three schools being proposed near Ammon Road. District 93 Superintendent Scott Woolstenhulme says Elevate Academy Charter School, a career technical education center for at-risk students, is slated to open this fall near Lincoln High School. The district hopes to break ground on Willow Creek Elementary on 49th North next year.
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With Hillcrest High School also in the area, this will make Gem Prep the fourth school along this corridor. There are numerous other schools in the area as well, including Cloverdale Elementary near Gem Prep’s future location.
Mike Rice, a homeowner in the Bridgewater subdivision at Lincoln and Ammon Road, is concerned about the placement of another school in this already high traffic area.
He’s also concerned about the potential safety hazard for kids.
“Ammon is already a nightmare during rush hour,” says Rice. “From Bridgewater down to 1st Street, there are no sidewalks, there are no controlled crosswalks and there are approximately 14 schools in a less than two-mile radius.”
Additionally, Rice says drivers often cut through Bridgewater to avoid the roundabout at rush hour, which extends the traffic problem into his neighborhood.
He’s not against the building of a new school, he just wants to make sure actions will be taken to improve traffic flow. And if not, he suggests building it in a pre-existing commercial space elsewhere in the city or county.
Bransford says they’ve already bought the land where Gem Prep will be built. Its construction is pending approval from the city. These issues will likely be discussed at Wednesday’s public meeting.
Ultimately, Rice points out the city has no authority to address traffic issues on Ammon Road or Greenwillow Lane because they’re county roads. Whether the county plans to make improvements at this location is yet to be seen.
Meanwhile, Bransford is excited for the construction of the new school and is looking forward to being part of the community.
“We think families are going to have a great experience getting a Gem Prep education for their children. We are so excited to come to the community because we love the values that exist there,” he says.