One Stone, a private high school in Boise that shuns traditional instruction methods and operates on an open-ended, growth-based model, hopes to reopen as a charter school next year.
Students and school leaders decided to apply to the State Charter Commission to become an innovative charter, and if approved, would like to open in the fall of 2027. One Stone’s lab school started in 2016 as a tuition-free private school, but it began charging tuition after the COVID pandemic.
An innovative charter model will eliminate tuition but require the school to introduce a lottery for admission, administer Idaho’s standardized tests, offer special education and be governed by a traditional board of trustees.
Currently, the school is governed by a board of 10-15 people that is mostly students. Students approved and helped create the plan to apply to become a state charter school.
One Stone doesn’t have teachers, it has coaches. But the coaches would need pathways to certification under the charter model, according to the school’s website. With an enrollment of 85 students, the school currently has a student-to-instructor ratio of about 10:1. The goal is 120 students.
“We’re under enrolled,” said Lab Director Michael Raegan.
The school’s executive director, Celeste Bolin, was selected for a fellowship with charter-funding nonprofit Bluum, which will partner with One Stone through the process.
One Stone gives families individualized tuition plans based on what they can pay in an effort to provide opportunity for students of different economic backgrounds. But enrollment has still dropped by nearly 50 students since the introduction of tuition.
Even with the introduction of a private school tax credit program intended to help families pay tuition, One Stone leaders’ uncertainty about the program gave them more confidence in seeking charterdom.
A lot of families don’t apply because they won’t consider something that charges tuition, said Bolin.
“Any amount of money is either too much or there’s some other barrier we’re not thinking about,” Bolin said. “And we don’t want that to be a factor.”
Students and faculty want to provide more students with the school’s unique learning experience and relationships.
“It’s a community of people who are kind of like bumpers for each other,” Evangeline Horel, a student and member of the school’s board, said. “And we talk a lot about failing forward. … I see it as a space where I’m able to try a bunch of different passions out, and see what I like and don’t like.”
Disclosure: Idaho Education News and Bluum are both supported by grants from the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Family Foundation.
