COEUR d'ALENE - The wheels are in motion at Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy.

By the start of next school year, if all goes according to plan, the building at 4904 N. Duncan Drive will have a larger multi-purpose room and three additional classrooms.

The school is soliciting bids for the 5,312-square-foot addition. Construction plans include a steel frame, concrete masonry, metal and wooden doors, an aluminum storefront and a single ply roof.

"We're growing," said business manager Glenn Mabile. "We're going to have about 50 more kids next year than we had this year. It'll make things much easier."

More than 600 students in grades 6-12 attend Charter today. The addition will create more space for an expanding student body.

"It just gives us a little more elbow room," said principal Dan Nicklay. "Just basically finding more room. No bells and whistles."

Charter's multi-purpose room is a versatile space, used as cafeteria, lunchroom and auditorium.

"It gets pretty crowded at lunchtime," Nicklay said.

When construction is finished, the multi-purpose room will be double its current size.

Two of the new classrooms will be available to traveling teachers, so all faculty can have their own rooms. The third classroom will be set up for the Idaho Education Network, where students will take advantage of fast Internet connections and high-tech electronic equipment.

"The state is connecting all the high schools in the state to high-speed Internet, and providing video-conferencing tools," Mabile said.

Charter plans to have construction completed by Aug. 29 - the first day of the 2011-12 school year. Mabile predicted building costs between $200,000 and $500,000.

Contractors must submit their bids by 2 p.m. on May 27.

A three-dimensional sketch of the future Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy building can be viewed at cdacharter.org.

"It's not a real flashy addition," Mabile said, "but we don't build real flashy buildings."