Home of the Snowshoe Hares

SANDPOINT — If it were up to the students, the Homeschool Academy would be the home of the Banana Slugs.

Because of the nature of the school, however, HSA director Melinda Rossman dubbed it the home of the Snowshoe Hares. A proposed emblem for the school shows a rendering of a hare bouncing through the snow, with mountains, trees and sunshine in the background.

“I would love it to be our permanent mascot,” Rossman told the Lake Pend Oreille School District board during the June 4 meeting. “It just kind of fits with who we are and our exploration.”

Throughout the school year, principals from each school in the district have presented to the board, answering two main questions: What is unique or special about your school? And what strategies are taking place this year that are different that the school is instituting to get more students learning more?” For the final presentation of the year, Rossman updated the board on where the school is at and where it is going.

The Homeschool Academy itself is unique, because while it is part of the district, it has a separate model from traditional schools. The school opened in September 2016 to provide part-time supplemental education to home-school students. HSA started out with 16 students enrolled for the 2016-2017 school year. The 2018-2019 school year, Rossman said, began with 103 students enrolled, going from 9,000 hours in the first year, to 36,000 hours of attendance in the third year of the program.

“It’s pretty awesome to know that our growth is successful, that speaks for itself in what we are doing and continue to do,” Rossman said.

Rossman said she attributes the growth of the school to several factors. First, she said, the students are enthusiastic about the programs. Several of the students who were in attendance at the meeting agreed with a resounding “yes,” to Rossman’s claim. The school also has strong parental support and “amazing” instructional staff, she said.

The structure of the schedule continues to evolve with the growing number of students as well, as Rossman said she is changing it up from one three-hour lesson in a day, to three 90-minute sessions for kids to choose from. The students and their families can choose which days they want to attend, though because it is a part-time supplemental program, they are not allowed to attend the entire week.

The school is open to home-school students in grades K-8, though Rossman said she is going to try something new with the youngest attendees in the fall. The “kinder sessions” will be held in the mornings, because Rossman said they get tired and distracted later in the day.

Rossman has a full schedule in place for the 2019-2020 school year, which includes art, music, theater, fitness, botany, outdoor living skills, intro to biology and more.

“We are going to continue to develop our environmental education, and really focus on the Northwest and Idaho,” Rossman said.

Rossman shared highlights from the fall, winter and spring sessions of 2018-2019, which included a published book titled “The Birds of the Pacific Northwest,” created by the students as part of the fall ornithology class. In the winter, she said, 62 students participated in the HSA Ski and Ride Program at Schweitzer, with 20 parent chaperones. The production of the school’s first musical, “We Are Monsters,” was the highlight of the spring session.

For their hard work and dedication in the musical, HSA students Lia Bradford, Logan Bradford, Juan Cardona, Milla Coggin, Banjo McKitrick, Ollie McKitrick, Giavanna Phillips and Pippi Weerheim were awarded certificates of recognition by the LPOSD board members.

“On behalf of myself and the 70 families in the school, and the 100-plus students, thank you for the continued support that you show our program, and our school and our families — it’s such a wonderful and unique program,” Rossman told the board as she concluded her presentation.

Rossman said she expects the school to continue to grow, and encourages any families who are interested to attend one of two orientations in July. New families, or families who have not attended the school in the past year, are required to attend an orientation before signing up for the 2019-2020 school year.

The orientations are scheduled for 8 a.m. July 23, and 5 p.m. July 25. To sign up for one of these sessions, contact Rossman by email at melinda.rossman@lposd.org.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.