IDAHO FALLS—Idaho Falls School District 91 will begin its unique online school enrollment option for students starting this fall. The district’s online program will allow middle school and high school students to be enrolled in online classes while still being students at their respective schools. This will allow online students to still take part in school activities and clubs in person. High school students will have the option to have a mixed schedule of online and in-person classes.
District superintendent Karla LaOrange recognizes that this flexibility is what many students may need.
“We have students that have medical issues or are sometimes dealing with anxiety, and they need to take a step back from in-person instruction and that online fits best for them,” LaOrange said. “And so, we're offering this to our families as a way to give them that flexibility for high school students.”
The district did have a separate online school option in the past but found it did not meet all of the needs of parents.
“So, we started to think about, ‘How can we bring the strengths of both what we have to offer face to face, and the online learning world together?’” LaOrange said. “And that created this model that we're now ready to roll out to our parents.”
When the program launches this fall, the school will only be offering core classes online, but in the future the district plans to expand options to electives online for high school students. In summer of 2027, the district plans to offer summer classes for students who desire to get ahead.
“We are trying to meet students where they are and give them opportunity that allows them to learn and also meet their other very unique desires that they have in selecting a school and in selecting the format that works best for them,” LaOrange said.
You can find more information about the online options on the Idaho Falls School District 91 website.