Alturas charter network to add third east Idaho location

RIGBY (IdahoEdNews.org) — The Idaho Public Charter School Commission unanimously approved a petition for a new charter school Thursday morning, setting the stage for the third expansion of east Idaho’s Alturas International charter network.

Alturas Academy North will serve K-8 students across the Jefferson, Madison, Ririe and Bonneville school districts.

Operating under the same umbrella as Idaho Falls’ Alturas International and Alturas Preparatory academies, Alturas Academy North will feature the same small-group instruction model and international baccalaureate (IB) programming.

The charter is set to open in Rigby in fall 2026.

North campus to support local districts, fill gaps in growing community

According to Alturas development director Brian Bingham, Alturas Academy North will fill an educational gap in the fast-growing communities of east Idaho.

According to Bingham’s presentation to the charter commission, Rigby has seen population growth of nearly 84 percent from 2000 to 2023.

And Alturas International — the network’s first school, which serves K-5 students in Idaho Falls — currently has around 400 students stuck on the waitlist. Many of those students, Bingham said, are located in the Rigby area. Some families are located as far as the Sugar-Salem, Ririe and Madison districts — which lie outside of the Alturas network’s current enrollment boundaries.

The Alturas team conducted a survey to gauge the interest in a new location. According to Bingham, waitlisted families overwhelmingly responded in favor of the Rigby campus.

Alturas administrators have also spoken with officials in the Jefferson County district, who also expressed support for the charter addition.

“With the data that we pulled and with the conversations with the school district, there is a need to alleviate some of the growth in the elementary grades through eighth grade through high school, in reality,” said Bingham.

Rigby location to seek grants and state funding

 To date, Alturas leadership secured a $75,000 grant from the Charter School Growth Fund to develop a strategic plan for its new location.

Upon Thursday’s approval of the charter petition, Alturas will now seek additional start-up funding — up to $2 million — through a Charter Schools Program Grant, as well as additional funding through the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Family Foundation, and with the state-funded revolving loan for charter buildings.

By 2030, Alturas hopes to select an underwriter to search for long-term financing.

Alturas caters to academic level, not grade level

Schools in the Alturas network all operate under the same belief that students should be taught according to their academic level, rather than their age, or grade level.

Diverging from the traditional public school model, Alturas instructs students in small groups with different age ranges.

Instruction groups for the Alturas north campus will be broken into:

• First through third graders
• Fourth and fifth graders
• Sixth through eighth graders

Kindergarten will operate as the school’s only standalone class.

According to leadership, this allows for a more targeted approach to instruction, and avoids lumping students together based only on their birthday.

Alturas operates an international baccalaureate program, which gives students a “global mindset,” according to the charter’s website. The IB mission is to “develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.”

Alturas is the only charter network to provide the Primary and Middle Years IB curriculum in southeastern Idaho, according to their website.

“I’m overwhelmed by the success and the lives that we’ve changed,” said Michelle Ball, founder of the Alturas network, during Thursday’s meeting. “I am beyond grateful that you gave us this opportunity to create Alturas, and I’m hoping we can make a bigger change in the state of Idaho as we grow this innovative model in different areas of the state.”

This article was originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on Aug. 15, 2024