Alturas Academy considers Rigby location for program expansion

The academy currently has two campuses in Idaho Falls, located in the old Sears building in the Grant Teton Mall, as well as downtown Idaho Falls. Alturas is a public charter school, according to Crose, who explained it is not funded by local tax dollars but by the state and by the state of Idaho as well as the Bloom Network and the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Family Foundation based on performance.

Michelle Ball, Alturas Executive Director, was a teacher in Idaho Falls for 37 years before founding the academy and developing the current program, Drkula said. Currently in their eighth year, there are approximately 1,000 students enrolled between the two schools with a waiting list of over 400 kids.

In their current location, according to Drkula, while the academy is a public charter school open to everyone, there are locations who receive priority acceptance. Currently those living within Idaho Falls School District #91 and Bonneville Joint School District #93 as well as Shelley Joint School District #60 have application priority.

“Anyone outside of that area can still apply, but they are lower on the tier scale,” Drkula said.

Opening another school, regardless of location said Crose, they believe they can fill it based on the numbers they already see in the applications they receive.

According to Ball in an interview following the chamber presentation, the tiers in the application lottery system make it difficult for Rigby applicants to get in.

About a year ago, she stated, she and the academy began thinking they wanted to expand, and because they’re charter only encompassed districts 91, 93 and Shelley, the several Rigby applicants (this year about 30 applicants) never make it.

Rigby, Ball said, is experience an explosion of growth which she thinks makes it a prime location to expand to, especially as the Jefferson Joint School District Schools are also experiencing an explosion of growth.

Currently, Ball said, the academy is looking to purchase land in the area and has a meeting with Jefferson Superintendent Chad Martin in the upcoming week to discuss the process of expanding to the area.

Alturas will have to create a new charter, based on the existing charter for Idaho Falls, and have it approved by the Idaho Commission which she indicated they are already in high standing with. JKAF, she said, has donated funding for their facilities in the past and will be involved in this expansion as well.

According to Ball, the new charter would be based in the Rigby area and likely include Rexburg and Ririe as well. A new school in Rigby, she said, could also allow for some Idaho Falls applicants another chance for acceptance as well.

“We’ve tapped into the way kids learn,” Ball said in regard to why they’ve experienced this growth in only eight years, and of their program which focuses on small group learning, and teaching to instructional level instead of to grade level.

Ball and Crose both explained students at Alturas are placed in groups based on their instructional level, not age level, as all students learn at a different pace.

“What works for some families doesn’t work for others,” Crose said. “We want to give students and families more options for what works for them.”

Ball stated Rigby is such a great community and harbors strong connections, which is exactly what these schools hope to harbor in their classrooms with their students.

“It’s really why we chose Rigby,” Ball stated.