SANDPOINT — Families within the Lake Pend Oreille School District who choose to homeschool now have an opportunity for their children to learn in a non-traditional environment.

The LPOSD Home School Academy, designed for students in grades K-8, begins Sept. 7. The professionally certified teacher, Melinda Rossman, is excited for the opportunity to be the first teacher to develop a home school community in Sandpoint with free, environmental learning.

"This is like a dream come true for me," Rossman said. "To be able to create this community of learners in a non-traditional environment. I've been thinking about doing this for the last five years of my teaching career. Just my enthusiasm for the outdoors, my knowledge of the outdoors and my love of teaching. To come to Sandpoint and be given this opportunity is a blessing."

An open house is scheduled for Sept. 1 where Rossman will answer any questions families might have and provide an overview of the academy.

Shawn Woodward, LPOSD superintendent, said the goal of the district is to provide as many options as possible for local families. One group the district was not working with was the home school population because, in Idaho, homeschool students do not need to report to a school district as they do in most states. So for the past year, Woodward has been meeting with various home school families to come up with a plan to create a program supporting what they are already doing at home.

"What our families will find out is that it can be really fluid and really flexible in supporting what they are doing with their children," Woodward said. "It's not that we are trying to get them to conform with how we do it in our school district. What we are telling them is 'look, we want to adapt and adjust to what you see as important, and we can build a program based on your particular needs.'"

Woodward said it is starting out small, but he is confident that as the academy builds trust throughout the home school community, it will grow substantially. He would be surprised, he said, if two or three years down the road there weren't 75 to 100 students in the academy. Rossman said about 10 students have already signed up, but she would like to see 100 students by the end of the year.

The academy is not curriculum-based, Rossman said, but a standards-based environment where students can learn to share ideas and expand on them. Lessons will expand, grow and change along with the needs of the students.

Students in the program are required to attend a minimum of two-and-a-half hours per week, with a maximum of 15 hours per week. Lessons will be held Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. for grades K-8 and will include outdoor education, such as nature hikes or other outdoor opportunities based on the season.

Thursday lessons will be split up between K-3 grades from 9 a.m. to noon, and grades 4-8 from 1 to 4 p.m. These sessions will focus on the fine arts, music, performing arts and writing. She named the final day of the week "Freeform Fridays" because it will be a mix of activities including keyboarding, robotics, culinary arts and Introduction to Spanish. Friday hours are 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Rossman said she is excited about her first six-week lesson plan, but would not divulge the information until the open house. She did, however, reveal that it has something to do with "six lessons around the lake."

"I'm so excited about it, I know I can get the kids excited about it," she said.

She designed the following six weeks around winter events, such as going up Schweitzer Mountain to ski, while also learning about avalanche awareness and winter survival training. Spring time will include looking at trees and plants for edible and medicinal uses.

"There is some really cool stuff I am developing as the outdoor curriculum," Rossman said, adding that North Idaho, with Lake Pend Oreille and the surrounding mountains, is the perfect area for this type of learning.

The open house is scheduled from 5 to 6:30 p.m., Sept. 1, at the Home School Academy, located on the corner of Division and Superior streets in Sandpoint, across the street from Sandpoint Middle School. Families are encouraged to get ahold of Rossman ahead of time to receive a formal invitation. Food will be provided as well.

Students must register at the LPOSD office to attend the academy. For information, email Rossman at [email protected].