Students Take First Steps Into Chartered Territory Despite Lack Of Desks, Books, Charter Academy Gets Down To Basics: Learning

It’s second period, and the students in Mrs. Leigh’s 10th-grade English class are learning the meaning of the word “insipid.”

Next door, pounding and drilling drown out all but the loudest students. Outside, administrators help girls in plaid jumpers unload mauve-colored chairs from an 18-wheeler.

It’s a testament to the adage “If you build it, they will come.” But on Wednesday, the Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy proved they’ll come even if it’s not quite built.

Two hundred students, wearing variations of the school’s uniform, attended the first day of class at the college-preparatory academy. They came from throughout North Idaho with bulging backpacks, brown-bag lunches and, in many instances, bad cases of the jitters.

“I couldn’t figure out what to wear,” eighth-grader Jessica Glasson said after choosing a button-up shirt and plaid skirt from the school’s limited uniform options. “I was also hoping we had carpet.”

Contractors scrambled all summer to turn the former garden shop at 711 W. Kathleen Ave. into a school.

Administrators didn’t receive the green light from inspectors to occupy the building until Tuesday afternoon. It’ll be several weeks before desks arrive, the same for about a third of the textbooks.

After a morning assembly, students had to carry their chairs with them to homeroom.

Right now, there are no lockers, no lunch tables, no computers, no library. But many say the charter academy has something more important.

“You can teach if you have a student and a teacher,” math teacher Jim Leigh said during a break in classes. “The rest of it is nice … Here, they don’t have to apologize for wanting to learn.”

Almost two years ago, longtime Coeur d’Alene teacher Bill Proser talked of starting a school for high-achieving students. He didn’t know where it would be, who would teach there, or whether anyone would enroll.

With the passage of Idaho’s charter school legislation last year, Proser and the school’s founders submitted a plan for their school to the Coeur d’Alene School Board. After months of deliberation, the board approved the Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy.

Charters, which now operate in more than 30 other states, allow schools more flexibility than traditional public schools. They can gear curriculum to a target group of students, operate on an unconventional schedule, and experiment with a range of educational methods. Some charters have focused on at-risk students, others on using inventive teaching styles to reach different types of learners.

At the Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy the focus is clear: Academics.

Students can expect three hours of homework a night. All seventh-graders must take Latin. Absences are scrutinized. And, eighth-grader Travis Potter said, “The grading scale is heavier than my backpack.”

English teacher Megan Leigh, who is Jim Leigh’s wife, came to the charter school after teaching at Lewis-Clark State College and Gonzaga University. She said working at the charter academy is her ideal teaching job.

“It’s the sort of educational situation I’ve been looking for, where there are rules, there’s an academic thrust and standards,” she said.

By noon on her first day, eighth-grader Bailey Pellak had homework.

“We had a science lesson already,” said Pellak, a slightly dazed look on her face.

“I’m going to learn a lot more than at Lakes (Middle School),” eighth-grader Russell Helgeson said before lunch.

The charter academy is not for everyone.

A low grade-point-average at Coeur d’Alene High School brought 10th-grader Amanda Reed to the charter, in hopes the small classes would help raise her grades and get her ready for college. By lunchtime, though, she said she felt intimidated by some of the other students.

“I don’t like it,” Reed said. “I can already see my grades going down … I don’t feel comfortable. I feel stupid and want to shut up and sit in the back of the room.”

Her friend, ninth-grader Crisina Hart, agreed.

“It seems like they’re almost expecting too much too fast,” said Hart, who noted that her teachers promised tests in the next couple weeks.

Class sizes at the charter school average about 25 students, with one at about 34 students. In Coeur d’Alene schools, seventh-grade English classes have about 26 students and eighth-grade classes have slightly more.

“How many of you plan to go to college?” Latin teacher Matt Harris, who taught last year at Lake City High School, asked his first period class.

Just about every hand shot up.

“It’s very refreshing to see that many hands go up,” Harris told the room filled mostly with seventh-graders. “At Lake City, I saw about a quarter of that.”

Proser said he is pleased that his dream has become reality.

“It speaks well for the kids,” Proser said. “They see they want to compete. They want to be challenged … Our gratitude goes to the Coeur d’Alene School District for giving us the chance to prove ourselves.”