After the fall — A startup vocational-technical public charter school tainted with special education violations is working to right those wrongs and strengthen relationships with families.
“We've realized that as the population we serve increases, we're going to have more special education students,” Elevate Academy special education director Stephanie Linder said Thursday. “We learned. Those are growing pains. As other schools say, we can do better. We learn from our mistakes and grow, that's what matters.”
Elevate Academy North will open in Post Falls in 2022 as a school for grades six through 10, then add an 11th grader and plans to add a 12th grader next school year. As of November, the school had 48 students in an individualized education program. This program details the special education needs of eligible students and how those needs will be met.
Linder said that typically about 11 percent of the student population in traditional schools requires special education services. Elevate North expects to double that amount.
“I think it’s because we are uniquely poised to serve children outside the box. We have all the trade and practice opportunities. “I think it's because the model is inclusive and you don't see it. There's a lot of that,” she said.
Elevate does not have dedicated special education classrooms. Rolling lecterns are used by teachers who move around and meet with students in the hallways for individualized instruction.
“It could include students with disabilities, it could include students who are falling behind and need additional support,” Elevate North Principal Marita Diffenbaugh said.
In a March 24 article, Idaho Education News reported that the Elevate Academy school was failing to address special education needs, citing a 2023 state inspection report obtained through a public records request. . There were 16 violations reported at Elevate North, and eight violations were cited at the Nampa location.
Linder and Diffenbaugh confirmed that there were 16 violations between the two complaints filed with the Idaho Department of Education regarding the two students.
“They hired me after some complaints, and they said, 'Hey, you can help us do this better and have better procedures and better procedures for every school that opens.' I needed someone to help me get support,''' said Linder, who was hired by the school. The network will be promoted in July 2023 and will operate from a flagship store in Caldwell.
Linder said the violations were similar and procedural in nature, including timely communication with parents, compliance with eligibility schedules and annual review of IEPs.
“We certainly had one staff member for that many kids,” Linder said. “We quickly realized our mistake, provided support and fixed everything. Most of our discoveries led to further training.”
Diffenbaugh said Elevate North is a community-driven school.
“Choosing to work with the students who need us the most can create even more turmoil because the need is even greater,” she says. “So we just keep learning and growing and getting better every day.”
Linder said Elevate North is participating in the necessary training and will have a six-month follow-up on the state's recommendations in two weeks.
“The key is to make sure we have procedures and policies in place to ensure we can meet deadlines and schedules,” she said.
Linder said when the Post Falls site opened, school leaders weren't sure what they would get in terms of how many children would need special education services.
“We had one certified special education teacher and we started working together, and we had over 50 kids,” she said. “It was tough making sure everything was going in the direction it needed to go.”
This year, we added an additional special education teacher and added two paraprofessionals to our team.
Linder, who has been in special education for 22 years, said, “We're seeing high needs across the board in special education. There's an influx of higher needs, and every school is facing challenges.” said.
Diffenbaugh said the two families who filed complaints did so before staff had a chance to build relationships with them.
“It was really early on,” she said. “We still have both families. We have a strong relationship and they are still enrolled.”
Although each Elevate operates as an independent regional educational institution, the lessons learned at the current school will inform the opening of the next site, which will open soon in Idaho Falls.
“We have three schools now and we're opening a fourth in Idaho Falls. We're better prepared as to what kind of population we're going to serve,” Linder said.
Diffenbaugh said Elevate is designed to inspire, inspire and engage students and families.
“We made some mistakes, but they have been corrected and we are moving forward,” Linder said. “This opportunity to learn from it has made us better.”
Seventh-grader Scarlite Erickson (center) prepares to measure milk for a recipe at Elevate Academy North in Post Falls. Also pictured: Titus Fife (left) and Lilia Kenney (right).
From left, Dodge Lundquist, Joseph Gosselin and Parker Taus, all juniors, work on building a shed during a home building class Thursday at Elevate Academy North.