New charter school expected to be open Sept. 8

HAYDEN — North Idaho's newest charter school is springing up in the woods near Lancaster Road on the north end of Hayden.

Work began on Hayden Canyon Charter on March 23, and crews are swiftly assembling the first phases of construction so the two-story, 30,000 square-foot wooden structure will be ready to welcome its adventurous learners come Sept. 8.

"It is so exciting,” Hayden Canyon Charter education director Cynthia Lamb said Tuesday. "There are so many people that have been working numerous years. It's like a dream come true for them. They've been working so hard, fighting so hard and it's finally a reality.

"We get to see all this effort come to fruition and just see how we can bring change to the community and the education system, and provide opportunities for the students of North Idaho, and give more choice," she said.

Nestled among the pines in a slight ravine, Hayden Canyon will offer its kindergarten though eighth grade students opportunities to learn from the world around them. With a curriculum based on expeditionary learning, or EL education, Hayden Canyon will provide hands-on, experiential project education and will focus on social-emotional and character development as well as college and career readiness.

"Being responsible, a contributing citizen,” Lamb said. “We’re going to focus on all those character traits like empathy, acceptance, inclusion, so when kids leave they're a well-rounded student. They'll know how to apply their learning to real-life situations, how to be responsible and contribute to the world around them."

The building itself will provide an expeditionary atmosphere, with mudrooms and pegs for young field scientists to quickly grab their gear as they head out for learning experiences, rather than lockers. Frosted glass sliding barn-style doors will encourage collaboration throughout the school, for students and faculty members.

This is the first part of four phases of building what will be a horseshoe-shaped school when it is fully complete in about eight to 10 years, depending on enrollment and funding opportunities. This first phase (phase 1.5) will cost $6.45 million. Lamb said Hayden Canyon has been fortunate to have the support of Black Rock to get the project off the ground.

"They had investors with the desire to invest in charter schools," she said. "They toured the area, got to know the community and what curriculum we were using and they were all on board. That was great, because we were looking at portables."

At the end of building phase 1.5, the school will have one full wing with 20 classrooms.

“We do have a quad of rooms upstairs that has a partition that we can open up and the kids can eat in there for lunch, should we be able to use a space like that for eating," Lamb said. "We may have to eat in classrooms if we’re socially distanced, but we do have that should we be able to roll into having normalcy."

In the next phase, more building will happen on top.

“It will attach to our kitchen and it will be the cafeteria, a multipurpose room," she said. "There will be a stage for band performances, there will be some band classrooms behind the stage and then another quad of rooms above."

The building will be green and gray, but the schools colors will be blues and greens to reflect the hues of nature. The mascot will be the Trailblazers, with "Sassy the Sasquatch" representing.

No fees are required to attend, except for full-day kindergarten, which is $250 per month. Half-day is free. However, a lottery was held in February and now students from across North Idaho are on waiting lists to enroll.

Darren Moore, the site superintendent with Young Construction, said big crews have been working to complete this phase of Hayden Canyon by opening day.

"We’ve been moving,” he said. “The one thing I like about the project the most is the location. This is a cool spot, it will be a cool spot for a school."

Info: https://haydencanyoncharter.org/