The First Year (well 3 actually)

Iris Valley Charter School actually began as a tiny thought in my mind, a hope to make a better place back in January 2020. We all know how that year went, and so the idea got placed on the back burner as other things took it's place. Things like getting my own children through the ever changing world that was happening at the time.

In the middle of these thoughts came an email from someone wanting me to tutor/homeschool their child for first grade because she did not do

online well. I took the job and my tutoring business took off! Soon after I was working almost 40 hours a week helping about 15 students learn as the world continued to change around us. The charter school was all but forgotten as I focused on my family, and growing business.

In December of 2021 the thought came back to me as I saw time and time again that while the world had changed, school had not, not much anyway. It seemed as though when students were able to get back into the classroom full time learning went back to the way it had been before, a "one size fits all" model that, in my opinion doesn't really seem to fit anyone. It's not the teacher's fault, or even the school administrator's, they are simply doing what they are told. I am not blaming anyone, just making an observation.

My mind as a mom, and a teacher started thinking, again, of how this could be changed, how to make a place of learning that recognized that learning is not a "one size fits all" thing. Now something was different though, I had a network of people I had built from by business, and even more experience as a teacher, and a mom having worked with these kids through a crazy time in education's history aka the pandemic. I had seen even more the necessity of differentiated learning, and had been able to test out, and even put some of my ideas into practice. My tiny thought could now start to grow.

I started talking about my idea to people I had met, coworkers, parents of students I tutor, moms on Facebook, I talked to whoever would listen to me. I talked so much I even got kicked out of one of those Facebook groups. No matter, I kept talking, and I started to get support, real support from people who were genuinely interested. I decided to look into it further and find out what it

actually took to make a charter school in Oregon. In January of 2022 I talked with the person in charge of Oregon charter schools at the Oregon Department of Education. She gave me lots of information, and sent me the paperwork. I got started, almost right away. I put together a Facebook group, started this webpage, and began listening to suggestions from people of what their ideal school would look like. I started the Iris Valley Foundation, which is a non profit so

that the school could raise money. I organized an auction. The in person portion did not do very well, however when I moved it over to the Facebook group people began to bid, and we raised over $500, not bad for the first year. That was

all just between January and April of 2022. Then I talked with the person with the local school district who works with charters and the school board. She emailed me a different set of paperwork. Okay, not a problem, I just used what I already had, and kept filling in the things that still needed to be done, work continued.

In June another person came on to help with part of the application, and for that I am ever grateful. She put together the curriculum map form, and filled in the upper grades. The summer got busy, and I took a break. I almost gave up again. The job looked to big, the mountain too steep. Except this time I had support, and a reason to keep going, so I did. The charter was completed on September 28, 2022, and emailed to the school district for review. In late October an email came back that a few sections needed to be revised. The revisions were made, and sent back. On December 19, 2022 an email came stating that the application, all of some 80 pages including the budget, calendar, articles of incorporation, and the actual charter, were complete, and would be sent on to the school board for a vote early in the new year.

That brings us to the present, currently awaiting the school board's decision, which will be made in less than two weeks from now. It has been a long three years, and a very busy year last year. I have learned a lot, met a lot of people, and know more about the inner workings of a school than I ever thought I would know. I am glad I have had this opportunity. I look forward to continuing this journey of making education more differentiated, more accessible, and more equitable so that all students can find success in learning to become the people that they dream of being.