Idaho commission approves third Hillsdale charter school amid enrollment boom

The Idaho Public Charter School Commission approved the state’s third Hillsdale-affiliated classical school last week as enrollment in charter schools booms nationwide.

American Classical Schools of Idaho (ACS) is leading a movement to bring classical charters to the state. Treasure Valley Classical Academy opened in 2019, and the Idaho Novus Classical Academy will start enrolling students in 2024.

The newly-approved North Idaho Classical Academy will open in 2025. The school has already bought a former residential facility and adjoining land to be its new campus.

Paul Ware, the property’s former owner, was so excited about ACS’s mission that he gave them a $5 million discount.

“We’re excited to see it come together and I’m confident it will work in the future for kids in the area the same way these schools have been working across the country,” Ware said.

Ware’s land was appraised at $8.5 million and sold to ACS for just $3.5 million. Nearly 500 students have already expressed interest in attending the new charter. 

Hillsdale – a liberal arts college in Michigan – launched a K-12 initiative in 2010 with the goal of “revitaliz[ing] public education through the launch and support of classical K-12 charter schools.” 

Since the program’s inception, Hillsdale has launched dozens of charters nationwide, and seats in its classrooms are in high demand. 

In the 2020-21 school year, its schools enrolled nearly 15,000 students with over 8,000 more waitlisted. 

Further information about Hillsdale’s K-12 curriculum can be found here.  

And charter schools aren’t only growing in Idaho. 

Since 2019, there’s been 9% increase of public charter schools nationwide, compared to a 3.5% decrease in traditional public education, the National Alliance for Public Charter School reported. 

According to the same report, Idaho charters grew by 17%, while traditional public schools stayed roughly the same. And nearly 11,000 students who want to attend a charter are still waitlisted in the state.