Alturas Academy charter school holds lottery, applications still being accepted
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IDAHO FALLS — A new charter school in Idaho Falls finished its initial enrollment lottery and is still accepting new students.
Alturas International Academy will be the fifth charter school in Idaho Falls and students will be learning in multi-age classrooms.
As part of Idaho charter rules, the school was required to have a mandatory lottery enrollment period.
“The lottery does give more opportunity for people to get in (during) that initial enrollment period,” Alturas Academy board member Candise Gilbert told EastIdahoNews.com.
The school received applicants in March and students were randomly selected by grade to be enrolled in the academy.
Through the first enrollment period, kindergarten and other grades were filled. Those who weren’t selected in the lottery have been put on a waiting list.
The open enrollment period for Alturas has not concluded and there are still open spots for first, fifth, and sixth grades.
“I wouldn’t want the words ‘waiting list’ to scare off anyone that was interested in the school,” Gilbert said.
She said people move and parents change their minds so the odds are still good for students who hope to enroll in the academy.
Alturas is accepting 250 students between kindergarten through sixth grade in its first year.
Alturas Academy in Idaho Falls was approved as an official charter institution by The Idaho Public Charter School Commission in Boise last December. Since then the school has been preparing to open in the fall.
The academy will be the first in the area to establish an International Baccalaureate status. The IB program is recognized as one of the top academic preparation programs in the world. It offers a more rigorous curriculum than traditional academics while still supporting Common Core standards.
“The curriculum will be project based with hands on experiences and it will be technology driven,” instructor Michelle Ball said. “Students will be taught to be principled, reflective, open-minded and analytical in their pursuit of knowledge.”
Ball is looking forward to educating students and helping them to become life learners.
“This is such an amazing adventure to offer an educational philosophy in Idaho Falls that is about building a community of learners who will seize passion for learning by becoming risk takers in a safe, engaging, environment,” Ball said.
Alturas students will be housed in the Boy Scouts building on Yellowstone for the first year. The school will provide transportation and lunch.
“Now that we have a better idea of our enrollment numbers and the location of our students, we are working on routes and identifying a company to provide transportation,” Gilbert said.
Gilbert said the school has found qualified educators but are still looking for more.
Alturas is set to begin August 22. For any inquiries about Alturas Academy, or to enroll a student, visit its Facebook page, or website.