SANDPOINT — Students from across Bonner County are waking up a little earlier than usual, finding their backpacks, best outfits and supplies and heading off to school.

As the students of Farmin-Stidwell approached the gates of a new school year, the full range of emotions were on display. Some kids sprinted to the playground, finding their friends and getting right to discussing their summer, while others waited patiently at their parents' side for the bell to ring. 

“Tuesday was an exciting start to the school year for all our educators and students, who we warmly welcomed back to the classroom,” Lake Pend Oreille School District officials told the Daily Bee.   

Once the bell rang, many kids found their parents for one last hug before they were off to their classes. Students hung their backups, grabbed their folders, greeted their new classmates and shuffled inside the classroom they’ll become well acquainted with over the next nine months. 

“Aside from the occasional first day-of-school butterflies, students had a smooth transition from their summer routines back to classroom learning and reconnecting with friends and teachers,” LPOSD officials said.  

For that time, LPOSD students are set to focus on literacy behind the district's ongoing “Every Student Graduates a Reader” initiative.   

"Reading affects every part of our lives, so it’s only natural that we strive to help our students achieve strong literacy skills,” officials said. 

The focus on literacy has shown to be an effective one, with the district’s Idaho Reading Indicator, a test given to students in kindergarten through third grade, scores improving significantly last year. On the IRI, 93% of LPOSD’s kindergarteners read above grade level, a mark that ranked second best in Idaho. 

Following that initiative's success, LPOSD said that it will begin another focused initiative this year. The math focus will be called, “Every Student Graduates a Confident Mathematician,” and will increase available resources and support for students in math classes. 

On the west side of the county, students in the West Bonner County School District are going into their second week of classes. Kim Spacek, WBSCD’s superintendent, said that the first day of school went well and that the district boasted a 94% attendance rate for the first two days.   

“Talking to all the principals, they said they thought the first day of school went pretty well and they were satisfied with the attendance,” Spacek said. “We were up around 94%, we’re pretty happy about that.” 

Spacek said that the district is working on its continuous improvement plan to boost students’ achievement and that, individually, each principal will set goals for their students as well. Overall, he said that the district is committed to focusing on reading, math and college and career readiness.  

This year will be the first year of WBSCD’s partnership with Overture Learning to implement its home learning network. The program connects home schooled kindergarten through eighth grade students with resources and local teachers. 

So far, Spacek said that the district has around 60-70 kids enrolled in the home learning network, but that the district’s goal is to get 100-150 enrolled.  

"Sixty is a start and we know that we need to improve, and we’ll work on improving it as the year goes on,” Spacek said. “There may be somewhere around 900 kids in the district that might be getting homeschooled, so we hope that starting this program small and strong, will bring more parents in.” 

In addition to expanding the existing program, Spacek said that the district is exploring options for a high school part of the network. He said that parents have expressed that they’d like their home-schooled students to earn high school and college credit in classes as well as receiving a diploma from the district. 

"Just like many districts in the area, we are trying to provide options for parents,” Spacek said. “We’ve had traditional education in the district, so we are trying to reach out and connect with people who want different choices in the school system.” 

    A mother and daughter get ready to hug before heading off to the first day of school at Farmin-Stidwell Elementary School.
  

    Students head into the doors of Southside Elementary School for their first day of the 2025-2026 school year.