Leadership Drives Everything
Joe Albertson “believed in the importance of leadership and in results.” These ideas flow through Bluum’s work. If one idea runs consistent throughout Bluum’s decade of educational innovation in Idaho, it is that outstanding leadership forms the foundation of excellent schools. This belief has shaped how Bluum identifies, invests in, and supports school leaders across the state.
Investing in Leaders, Not Just Schools
From its earliest days, Bluum recognized that identifying and nurturing exceptional leaders represented its most strategic investment. Rather than simply providing funding to schools, the organization created a deliberate leadership development pipeline.
“Every single opportunity for all 30-35 of these schools has started with a leader that Bluum has brought to the table,” said Jason Bransford, CEO of Gem Innovation Schools, the state’s largest and oldest charter school network.
This approach of identifying leadership talent up front, often two years before a school opens, has become a hallmark of Bluum’s strategy, particularly with school fellowship programs that provide leaders time to immerse themselves in communities before launching schools.
“When you can bring a school leader in two years ahead of time, and they can be on the ground, and they can work with founding groups, and they can message to the communities and explain this school model… what you create is momentum for leaders to be successful,” Steve Lambert, CEO of the American Classical Schools of Idaho network, said. “It gives confidence to leaders coming in that we’re not just a fly-by-night idea; that we have the gravitas to say, ‘come here, we have the financial and logistical support.’”
School leaders said Bluum consistently pushes them to rethink what’s possible. This commitment to innovation has helped schools break free from conventional educational approaches.
Creating A Community of Leaders
Beyond individual fellowships, Bluum has cultivated a strong network of school leaders who support one another. This community has become a source of shared wisdom and mutual encouragement.
“Having that community around me has made leading a lot more fun. And I feel like I’ve been a more effective leader through my association with Bluum, and all the good people associated with it,” said Andy Johnson, former Executive Director at Sage International School and a former Army Ranger.
This community extends beyond formal leadership development programs into day-to-day support systems. Amanda Cox, Founder and Executive Director of Future Public School, described a line of communication between herself and two other Bluum-supported school leaders: “We basically have a daily text message thread, bouncing ideas off of each other, just kind of venting at times, problem solving. Those connections wouldn’t have been true without the support of Bluum.”
Monica White, CEO of Elevate Academy, echoed this sentiment. “You get to this level, and leadership can often be lonely and isolating. Bluum makes it not isolated,” White said. “The collective wisdom they bring has helped me grow as a leader and run things much better than I would have without them.”
Setting A Higher Bar for School Design
School leaders said Bluum consistently pushes them to rethink what’s possible. This commitment to innovation has helped schools break free from conventional educational approaches.
“One of the biggest impacts was the nudge to design the school in an innovative way,” said Andi Kane, Head of School at the private St. Ignatius Catholic School. St. Ignatius is not a public charter school, but it is part of the Bluum family of schools. “Knowing I was hired to start a Catholic school, there’s a very cookie cutter model out there for what that looks like, and I was prepared to do that… but Bluum, by funding that project…said, ‘We’ll give you a grant, but we want you to look at thinking outside the box,’” remembered Kane.
For Kane, this has meant implementing flexible seating, personalized learning, standards-based grading, and mixed-age groupings, innovations uncommon in traditional Catholic schools. “I look back on it and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t even imagine. We would be such a different school if we hadn’t done all those things,’” she said.
Expanding Horizons Through Exposure
A consistent theme across interviews was Bluum’s commitment to exposing Idaho’s school leaders to exceptional educational models from around the country. These carefully curated visits have expanded school leaders’ sense of what’s possible.
“That first year, when we were designing the school, they helped fund me going to see schools around the country,” Kane said. “We went to four different cities. And each visit we saw several different schools, totally different models; everything from in Portland, where you had kids basically doing school in a garden the whole time, to project-based learning schools.”
Jason Bransford of Gem Prep had a similar experience: “With [Bluum’s] support, we got access to tap the minds of some really brilliant people around the country,” he said.
School founders described receiving assistance with facilities financing, back-office operations, community engagement, and more. This enables leaders to focus on instructional excellence.
Developing Leaders at Every Level
Bluum’s leadership development focuses beyond just school founders or network CEOs. The organization has created a multi-layered approach that builds capacity throughout leadership teams.
“There are opportunities, not just for myself to continue building skills as a school leader, but also team members,” Amanda Cox said. “I think about our special education director… our school principal, Heather, just the opportunities she’s also been able to be a part of.”
Andy Johnson described Bluum’s comprehensive approach: “They do some school leader specific PD, which we’ve now done for several years. About once a month, we get together for six to eight hours, and we go through some specific, high-leverage stuff we can do with our staffs,” he said.
Creating An Ecosystem of Support
What distinguishes Bluum’s approach is how leadership development connects to a comprehensive system of support. School founders described receiving assistance with facilities financing, back-office operations, community engagement, and more. This enables leaders to focus on instructional excellence. (See the Theme Eight section for a deeper dive on this topic).
Gem Prep’s Jason Bransford said Bluum’s integrated support system makes a big difference: “Terry (Ryan) always passing along articles and saying, ‘You guys ought to read this,’ or ‘You guys ought to think about this’… He’s also pushed to create an ecosystem in Idaho, and this includes laws, funding mechanisms, and a range of supports that allow us to do the work that we’re doing with minimal barriers in our way.”
Impact: Schools That Wouldn’t Exist
School leaders said many of Idaho’s most innovative schools wouldn’t exist without the Bluum’s leadership investments.
“We wouldn’t exist without their guidance and their developing us as leaders,” said Monica White of Elevate Academy. The network now serves about 1,600 students across four schools, with plans to grow to eight schools serving 4,000 students.
Amanda Cox had a similar take about Future Public School: “I fully know that without the support of Bluum and the network of other school leaders that we’ve built and fostered over the years, Future would not still exist.”
