We empower, invest in, and support educational leaders who take risks and put children first.
LET LEARNING GROW.
EMPOWER
We empower educational leaders in the Gem State by providing one- or two-year fellowships to those who take risks and put children first.
INVEST
In partnership with the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Family Foundation, Bluum serves as a funding intermediary and local champion for supporting entrepreneurial education ventures.
SUPPORT & IMPROVE
Bluum provides partner schools with additional services and technical assistance. Our team can help elevate the business of running a school by reviewing financial infrastructure and identifying areas of strength and areas for improvement.
DISCOVER & INFORM
Bluum has become a go-to resource on education research and innovation. We aim to share the work of Idaho’s high performing schools and outstanding educators. Our hope is that it can become a national model for helping all children reach their fullest potential.
$42,133,035
FEDERAL CHARTER SCHOOLS PROGRAM INVESTMENT
21,690
TOTAL NEW SCHOOL SEATS CREATED
54
TOTAL IDAHO SCHOOLS SUPPORTED
$132,237,381
TOTAL PHILANTHROPIC INVESTMENT
Stories
Bluum is proud to announce that Ashley Cotton, Director of Outreach and Organization, has been selected as a 2026 National Voices Fellow by 50CAN. The National Voices Fellowship brings together education leaders from across the country who are working to expand opportunity for students. Fellows participate in a multi-month leadership development program focused on policy, communications, coalition building, and strategic advocacy.
Idaho’s growing and relatively high-performing public charter school sector is well-positioned to demonstrate the impact of granting school leaders greater freedom to allocate resources in ways that successful educators believe will most effectively improve student achievement. We refer to this concept as earned autonomy. How this approach can work in practice is the reason Bluum partnered with our friends at ExcelinEd to produce this report. We are deeply grateful to school finance expert Matthew Joseph and the ExcelinEd team for their work in developing this research for Idaho.
Kelly Trudeau joined a group of parents trying to open a K-12 charter school called Compass in Meridian, Idaho more than 20 years ago, with no intention of ever becoming an administrator. She was a school counselor whose own children attended a charter school in nearby Nampa, and she joined the group to help rewrite parts of the charter application that the local school district kept rejecting. “I’d never thought about being an administrator,” Trudeau said. “I was a school counselor. I didn’t want to be a school administrator.”
Earned Autonomy for Idaho Charter Schools
Idaho's Communities of Excellence Charter School Grant
Idaho Education by the Numbers
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