Cardinal Academy for parenting teenagers opens its doorways to college students
Emily Bergstrom had been fielding text messages from new students all morning.
- What time does the bus come?
- Do I need school supplies?
- I’m going to be late for the bus.
- Do I need to drive myself?
After a marathon year setting up Boise’s new Cardinal Academy charter school, and a sprint to install carseats on buses that arrived weeks late, Cardinal’s Executive Director watched as a petit yellow school bus drove up to the Emerald St. Salvation Army campus on Monday morning. The moment had finally arrived.
“This is so exciting,” Bergstrom said as she walked to greet the first students. “When things got really intense and really stressful, this is the moment I have been imagining. Once the first bus pulls up, we’ll be OK. And here we are.”
Cardinal Academy, a charter school designed for pregnant and parenting teens, opened its doors to about 50 students on Monday. The opening day marked the start of a new era for the school, which used to operate as the Booth Marian Pritchett school under a longstanding partnership between the Salvation Army and the Boise School District. After declining enrollment at the school, Boise announced it would transition its parenting services to Frank Church alternative high school. The Salvation Army and Bergstrom, a long-time academic and career counselor at the Booth school, decided to open a charter.
<img data-attachment-id="48753" data-permalink="https://www.idahoednews.org/news/cardinal-academy-for-parenting-teens-opens-its-doors-to-students/attachment/_attachment-carindal2/" data-orig-file="https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Carindal2.jpg" data-orig-size="1770,1180" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"4","credit":"","camera":"Canon EOS 5D Mark III","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1631517326","copyright":"","focal_length":"24","iso":"1250","shutter_speed":"0.0333333333333","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="Carindal2" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="
Josephina Rashidi holds her five month old son in Cardinal Academy’s lunchroom after breakfast at the school. Sami Edge/IdahoEducation News
” data-medium-file=”https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Carindal2-620×413.jpg” data-large-file=”https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Carindal2-1180×787.jpg” loading=”lazy” class=”wp-image-48753 size-large” src=”https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Carindal2-1180×787.jpg” alt=”” width=”1180″ height=”787″ srcset=”https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Carindal2-1180×786.jpg 1180w, https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Carindal2-620×413.jpg 620w, https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Carindal2-200×133.jpg 200w, https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Carindal2-1536×1024.jpg 1536w, https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Carindal2.jpg 1770w” sizes=”(max-width: 1180px) 100vw, 1180px”/>Josephina Rashidi holds her 5-month-old son in Cardinal Academy’s lunchroom after breakfast at the school. Sami Edge/IdahoEducation News
Destiny Monay Bell, 19, was the last student to leave the first bus. Swaddled in a gray blanket in her arms was her 6-week-old daughter, Natallia.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” Bergstrom said, greeting them on the front walk.
“Me too,” Bell replied. “I was really nervous.”
Cardinal is a fresh start for Bell, who was originally scheduled to graduate from high school with the class of 2020. Bell dropped out during her junior year, she said, after her ex-boyfriend knocked out a tooth and she didn’t want to go to school.
“I realized when I got out of that relationship, and I was just trying to live my life, that I missed school and I wish I’d tried harder,” she said. After graduating from Cardinal Academy, Bell plans to take college courses to find a good paying job.
Usually anxious around new people, Bell felt more confident than she expected as she walked into Cardinal for her first day. She’s also hopeful she can be an example for other pregnant teens.
“If I was still pregnant and I saw someone with a baby already, I’d think ‘well okay, they know how I feel right now,” she said. “I’d look up to them a little bit, because they already experienced it.”
<img data-attachment-id="48752" data-permalink="https://www.idahoednews.org/news/cardinal-academy-for-parenting-teens-opens-its-doors-to-students/attachment/_attachment-cardinal3/" data-orig-file="https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Cardinal3-scaled.jpg" data-orig-size="2560,1707" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"4","credit":"","camera":"Canon EOS 5D Mark III","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1631518966","copyright":"","focal_length":"58","iso":"125","shutter_speed":"0.0166666666667","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="Cardinal3" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="
Destiny Bell holds her 6-week old daughter Natallia in her first day back to school at Cardinal Academy after dropping out a few years prior. Sami Edge/Idaho Education News.
” data-medium-file=”https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Cardinal3-620×413.jpg” data-large-file=”https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Cardinal3-1180×787.jpg” loading=”lazy” class=”size-full wp-image-48752″ src=”https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Cardinal3-scaled.jpg” alt=”” width=”2560″ height=”1707″ srcset=”https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Cardinal3-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Cardinal3-620×412.jpg 620w, https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Cardinal3-1180×786.jpg 1180w, https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Cardinal3-200×133.jpg 200w, https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Cardinal3-1536×1024.jpg 1536w, https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Cardinal3-2048×1365.jpg 2048w” sizes=”(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px”/>Destiny Bell holds her 6-week old daughter Natallia in her first day back to school at Cardinal Academy after dropping out a few years prior. Sami Edge/Idaho Education News.
Bell settled into her first English class on Monday in a second-floor room overlooking a playground. While baby Natallia rested in her arms, some of her classmates’ children played at the daycare down below.
Cardinal Academy rents space from the Boise Salvation Army, and the Salvation Army offers the students a daycare on-site. Cardinal provides mental health counseling on site, and doctor visits once a month. Students also have weekly access to an on-site store, where they can use “Booth Bucks,” earned through class participation to buy formula and clothes, cribs, toiletries and even a toddler’s race car bed. The school provides breakfast, lunch and snacks, and the Salvation Army has an on-site food pantry if students need help with meals outside of the school day.
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Students can buy a variety of items at an on-campus store with dollars earned in class. Sami Edge/Idaho Education News
” data-medium-file=”https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Store-620×413.jpg” data-large-file=”https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Store-1180×787.jpg” loading=”lazy” class=”size-medium wp-image-48755″ src=”https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Store-620×413.jpg” alt=”” width=”620″ height=”413″ srcset=”https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Store-620×412.jpg 620w, https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Store-1180×786.jpg 1180w, https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Store-200×133.jpg 200w, https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Store-1536×1024.jpg 1536w, https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Store.jpg 1770w” sizes=”(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px”/>Students can buy a variety of items at an on-campus store with dollars earned in class. Sami Edge/Idaho Education News
<img data-attachment-id="48761" data-permalink="https://www.idahoednews.org/news/cardinal-academy-for-parenting-teens-opens-its-doors-to-students/attachment/_attachment-821a3992/" data-orig-file="https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/821A3992.jpg" data-orig-size="1770,1180" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"4","credit":"","camera":"Canon EOS 5D Mark III","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1631515834","copyright":"","focal_length":"24","iso":"200","shutter_speed":"0.0333333333333","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="821A3992" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="
Cardinal academy staff sprinted to install carseats on the district’s late arriving school buses over the weekend. Sami Edge/Idaho Education News
” data-medium-file=”https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/821A3992-620×413.jpg” data-large-file=”https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/821A3992-1180×787.jpg” loading=”lazy” class=”size-medium wp-image-48761″ src=”https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/821A3992-620×413.jpg” alt=”” width=”620″ height=”413″ srcset=”https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/821A3992-620×412.jpg 620w, https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/821A3992-1180×786.jpg 1180w, https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/821A3992-200×133.jpg 200w, https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/821A3992-1536×1024.jpg 1536w, https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/821A3992.jpg 1770w” sizes=”(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px”/>Cardinal academy staff sprinted to install carseats on the district’s late arriving school buses over the weekend. Sami Edge/Idaho Education News
The school’s six teachers all cater to numerous grade levels, and work with students who often experience gaps in their education. While most of Cardinal’s students transferred from another district, some are returning to school after dropping out during or before the pandemic.
Cardinal’s mission has attracted a group of teachers intrigued by the school’s unique focus. Sandy Scott, who teaches Family & Consumer Sciences, thought she was done with teaching after a particularly challenging year as a math teacher at Kuna’s Falcon Ridge Charter. She applied to help with office work at Cardinal and instead was hired to teach the students about early childhood development, personal finances and life skills. Science teacher Hannah Green was teaching kindergarten in Arizona, and moved to Idaho three weeks ago to work at the charter. And Allison Doyle, Cardinal’s English teacher, left the Homedale School District to work at the charter, whose mission hits close to home: Both of her parents were young when she was born.
As Doyle introduced herself to a quiet group of seniors on Monday morning, she ran them through some of her class protocols: If a student needed to check on their kiddo downstairs, they should use a sign-out sheet on the wall. If they needed to nurse, the library next door was available, as was a cozy nook at the back of the room with a rug and some floor cushions. Burp cloths and baby bibs are under the pencil sharpener.
“They treat us more like adults,” said Ellyssa, an 11th grader who expects a baby within the next month. Ellyssa was afraid she’d get bullied if she returned to her traditional school pregnant. She’s also looking forward to the parenting classes provided by the school.
“I don’t know much about raising kids. Coming here I can get a high school diploma while getting the parenting skills,” she said.
The 50 students currently enrolled at Cardinal are fewer than half of the school’s capacity. The facility needs more like 100 students to be financially independent, Bergstrom said, but it has received enough support from the Salvation Army and organizations like the Kathryn Albertson Family Foundation that it can afford to operate for multiple years until it meets that threshold. She’s optimistic the school can reach that benchmark by year four as the school builds its reputation.
Though it mike take time for Cardinal Academy to build up its student base, special education teacher Krista Smith expects the school’s lessons will have an immediate impact on the kids already enrolled.
“It’s not like, hypothetically, I’m teaching you things so that down the road you can have a job and a family,” said Smith. “No, that’s here. That’s now.”
Cardinal academy students pick up their infant from daycare during lunchtime. Sami Edge/Idaho Education News
About Sami Edge
Reporter Sami Edge, a University of Oregon graduate, joined Idaho Education News in 2019. She is a 2019 Education Writers Association fellow reporting on Latino student outcomes in Idaho. She also is a 2019 American Press Institute fellow. She can be reached at [email protected].
Read more stories by Sami Edge »
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