A charter school specializing in career technical skills is on track to open in north Post Falls in time for the 2022-23 school year.

Dubbed Elevate Academy North, the year-round career public charter school offers a variety of options for students and serves at-risk youth, as well as students with special needs.

The school will be located near the southeast corner of Killdeer Avenue and Bogie Drive, in Post Falls, near the Tullamore Place Apartments.

“Elevate is … designed to serve students who are traditionally disenfranchised with school and have struggled everywhere else that they’ve been,” says Elevate Academy CEO Monica White.

She adds, “We build all of our schools in partnership with local community industry and really the needs of the community so that we can create workforce pipelines within those communities, but also find and expose the talents of kids whose talents aren’t exposed in a traditional setting.”

Erstad Architects PA, of Boise, Idaho, is designing the $9 million project, which will be built by Meridian, Idaho-based Engineered Structures Inc., which does business as ESI Construction. 

The 36,000-square-foot project will include two connected buildings, a two-story Academy Building and a single-story Technical Building, according to documents on file with the city of Post Falls. The Academy Building will have 24,800 square feet of space, while the Technical Building will have just over 14,500 square feet.

The school will serve around 310 students, says White. Between 20 and 24 certified teachers and 15 staff members will be employed at the school, she adds. When it first opens, the school will serve grades six through 10, according to information on the school website. An 11th grade and 12th grade will be added in 2024 and 2025, respectively.

In May, the Federal Charter Schools Program awarded Elevate Academy North an $800,000 grant. The grant is intended to increase the number of public charter school options in Idaho.

Other funding for the project was secured by Building Hope Real Estate, a nonprofit that works with charter schools.

Since 2003, Building Hope has helped fund 300 charter school projects in 20 states and the District of Columbia, which have served over 150,000 students.

Elevate also plans schools in Nampa, Idaho, and Idaho Falls, which will open in 2022 and 2023, respectively.