Anser Charter School Wins First Charter Stars Award

Anser Charter School in Boise is the first Idaho public charter school to take home the Charter Stars Award for exemplary performance in student achievement, leadership and community service.

Lori Howard of State Department of Education awards the Charter Stars Award and $1,000 check to Lisa VanDercar of Anser Charter School. 

The Charter Stars Award Program was created to recognize an outstanding Idaho public charter school and highlight the innovative programs and success of charter schools across the state. The awards program is part of Idaho’s federal Charter School Program grant.

To be eligible, a school must be operationally and academically successful for at least five consecutive years. Schools were then nominated by educators, parents, and administrators. All nominees were judged based on academic achievement of students, school leadership, innovation of programs, service-learning projects, parental involvement, and additional outstanding projects and data.

The hope is that the Charter Star schools will share their successes and best practices with other schools across the state now and in the future.

The first Charter Stars Award was presented at the annual Idaho Charter School Network Conference on Wednesday. As the winner, Anser Charter School received a Charter Stars banner to display at its school along with a $1,000 award.

Anser Charter School opened its doors in 1999, and now, the school has met or exceeded every requirement of the Charter Star program. 

Students at Anser Charter have met the state’s academic goal, known as Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), for the past three years in a row.

The students at Anser work with 40 different agencies every year and clock more than 5,000 hours of community service – every year.

In 2008, the 7th and 8th graders studied World War II and the Holocaust.  That summer, they sponsored Youth for Human Rights Day and painted the “Forgive” mural on the Idaho Human Rights Education Center, located at the corner of 9th and River Streets in Boise.

Parents at Anser Charter School are also known for lending a helping hand.  In 2009, the parents organized a “Summer of Service” for renovations of the school’s new facility. They contributed more than 2,100 hours! 

Congratulations to Anser Charter School!

~ Melissa M.