‘Finding their genius’: Elevate Academy prepares students for career success

IDAHO FALLS — Elevate Academy is transforming the educational landscape for students across the region.

Now in its first year, the area’s newest public charter school, located at 1873 North Walton Avenue, offers training in eight trades — welding, construction, cybersecurity, machining, business/marketing, medical arts, criminal justice and culinary arts.

Ninth-grader Liz Kalco has chosen to specialize in welding and culinary arts. She said she has struggled at other schools, but found her place at Elevate Academy.

“I started welding just last year and I just, I loved it immediately,” Kalco said.

Her Indian makhani cavitelli pasta recently advanced as a finalist in the “Pasta for Paws Charity Dinner” competition.

“Everybody is so talented here,” Kalco said. “It just takes a minute for everybody to, like, understand, but all the teachers really support everybody. They help a lot. All of the teachers here are wonderful!”

Middle school students are exposed to each trade in five-week blocks, while the ninth and 10th graders pick their four favorite trades and spend 10 weeks in each.

“We want them to explore,” said Elevate Academy Principal Logan Waetje.

The school currently offers 6th-10th grade education and will add a junior class this fall, followed by a senior class in 2026-2027.

In high school, junior and senior students “narrow their four trades down to their top two, and they spend all year in those trades, and that’s where they earn certifications,” Waetje explained.

“It gives you a graduate that is prepared for life but also can fix stuff around the house. You can have a project in the garage going on and feel comfortable around tools, can save a life, can cook a meal,” he added. “The goal is a well-rounded adult that leaves this building.”

The school has enrolled 340 students and will be adding another 75-80 this next year – including 44 new sixth graders, 22 new seventh graders and 12 new ninth graders.

Elevate Academy boasts a 93% attendance rate. Its staff includes 24 teachers, administrators, support personnel, a school resource officer and a counselor.

“Our ideal student is a student that generally struggles in a traditional environment,” Waetje said, “– a student that likes to learn hands-on, that likes trades.”

Elevate students go on near-weekly field trips to visit employers in the region — including Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center, the Mountain America Center, Idaho Steel, the East Idaho Home Builders Association’s Parade of Homes, Andersen Manufacturing, digital marketing firms and local fabrication shops.

“We’re hands-on. We integrate our subjects. We’re mastery based,” Waetje said. “So students that might struggle sitting still for a long time or being in a six-period day where it’s highly structured and not as much elective time – we’re designed for those kids.”

Diving into the trades

In the construction block, high school students are building ornate, custom dog houses, while the seventh graders recently completed pinewood derby cars.

The school is partnering with the Snake River Animal Shelter to provide the dog houses free of charge to the first 20 people who adopt a dog on April 4-5.

“The families are going to be really lucky to not only get a family dog, a little buddy, but a place for them to sleep,” said ninth-grader Bella Cucufate.

The school is also hosting a “Pasta for Paws Charity Dinner” for 120 guests from 6 to 9 p.m. on April 9 at Elevate Academy. Half the funds raised from the event will go toward the animal shelter. The other 50% will be invested back in the culinary program. Tickets are $50 per person or $300 for a table that seats eight. They go on sale on March 21 and can be purchased in person at the school or by calling 986-800-5350.

During the event, students will present three of their best pasta dinners to restaurant owners in the community, and the winner will be featured on the menu in a local restaurant, said Natalie Ochoa, a ninth-grader at Elevate Academy.

“I’m getting certified in business as well, so I can learn how to run a restaurant, and actually get it going,” Ochoa said.

Each grade at Elevate Academy is staffed by full-time English, math, and science/social studies teachers – plus the trade teachers. The curriculum is integrated so that students’ projects correspond with what they’re learning in their core classrooms.

In medical arts on Thursday, students were learning practical skills in first aid and wilderness survival.

“We are learning how to do CPR and how to take care of burns,” seventh grader Hunter Peterson said.

The school also features a two-story slide that students can take on their way to the lunch room.

Dream big, and go for it!

At Elevate Academy, the students aren’t the only ones thinking big.

William Warren, a welding and fabrication teacher with 35 years of welding experience, said he will team up with machining instructor Montee Lehnhoff and let the kids build “full, independent suspension go-carts” in the future.

“Almost all of our trades teachers … are coming straight from industry,” Waetje said. “So they’re right out of their jobs that they’ve been doing — machinists, welders, construction, chefs, police officers, but now they’re all teaching.”

The staff’s goal is to help students be “Next step ready.”

“Our big push is really just letting families all around Idaho Falls and Ammon know that we’re here, what we do, and if your kid would thrive in this type of environment, get into the lottery first, and basically you’ll get a phone call when that seat opens up for your student,” Waetje said.

Elevate Academy currently has kids that came from 30 different schools attending its campus.

First preference is given to students who reside in Bonneville Joint School District 93, but applicants from other districts are also welcome, Waetje said.

The lottery closes on April 9.

If a student wants to learn more or apply for the lottery to enroll, they can go to elevate208.org/enroll/east.