It’s part homeschool, part classroom and all good.

The Cedar program in the Coupeville School District has had a successful start, and is looking forward to adding more classes and more students.

Since it began in mid-October enrollment in the program has grown to 31 students. The students attend the Cedar program part-time, as a supplement to homeschooling, so they equal 17 “full-time equivalents.” The school district gets $4,000 from the state for each full time equivalent.

Cedar, which stands for Child Centered, Experiential, Democratic, Authentically Assessed, and Respectful, is a home-based educational program run by the Coupeville School District, and the brainchild of two long-time teachers.

Deb Lund, teacher, librarian and children’s author, said the idea for the Cedar program began a few years ago when she wanted to develop an arts-based school that was “experiential and had a focus on the environment.”

David Pfeiffer came on board with 20 years of experience in teaching and school administration, the last eight years as an elementary school principal in Edmonds. A Langley resident, the idea of teaching on the island was appealing.

“I got very tired of the commute,” he said. More than that, he shared Lund’s vision of an arts-based curriculum.

“What makes this different from other alternative programs is the driving vision of an arts-based, arts-centered program,” he said.

Lund and Pfeiffer approached the Coupeville school board with their idea, because it was the only school district on the island without a homeschool support program.

Coupeville School Superintendent Bill Myhr was new on the job when he learned of the proposed program, but he saw the need for it.

“We had been watching our kids go north and south,” he said, referring to homeschool support programs run by South Whidbey and Oak Harbor school districts.

“As a district we saw a need to build a bridge to families who have chosen to homeschool,” he said.

The homeschool support program has reversed the flow of students out of the district. Several families from Oak Harbor and South Whidbey school districts have enrolled their children in the program, and thus in the Coupeville school district.

There are 57 children registered with the state as being homeschooled in the Coupeville district, but Myhr said there may be more families who have not registered but are teaching their children at home.

Myhr stressed the Cedar program is not in competition with regular schools for students.

“It is a homeschool support program, period,” he said. Only two students currently take classes at both the Cedar program and Coupeville schools.

Lund and Pfeiffer share one full-time teaching position. Lund covers interactive language arts courses, while Pfeiffer does administrative work, teaches math and science courses, and supervises the Youth in Philanthropy program.

The program is housed at the Au Sable Institute on Parker Road. Classes are held in remodeled, light-filled buildings named for their original pheasant farm use: the roost, the grainery and the brooder barn. The “incubator” will become, appropriately, a science lab

Myhr said the alternative program at this point is just below the break even point, due to startup costs. If enrollment continues to increase, he expects it will break even by the end of this year, and be in the black by next school year.

One parent helping those enrollment figures is Rebecca O’Dell, of Oak Harbor. She enrolled her five children in the program after trying public school and the Home Connection program in the Oak Harbor school district. She felt Home Connection was too structured for her family.

“It didn’t work at school, why would it work at home?,” she said. “We’re a lot happier here.”

Her children do their core curriculum classes at the Cedar program, and follow up at home, about a half-and-half split.

The Cedar program offers classes that parents may find hard to duplicate at home.

On a recent morning instructor River Powers was leading a spirited group of kindergarten- to second-grade students in a Spanish lesson.

Using the program’s holistic teaching philosophy, the students circled around Powers and responded to her instructions, not only in Spanish but also in sign language. At “Madre!,” the students made the sign for mother, “padre!” instantly brought their hands into position for father. Body parts were named with lots of jumps and gestures.

Donita Anderson, of Coupeville, watched her 8-year-old son Chris enthusiastically participating.

“It’s amazing how they’re picking it up,” she said.

Anderson said she appreciated how Pfeiffer and Lund were willing to work with her on creating a blend of education, and the good support they offered.

Chris’ education plan includes attending second grade at Coupeville Elementary two days a week for occupational therapy, reading and core classes, plus homeschooling and language and story play classes at the Cedar program.

Cedar students must attend classes on site at least five hours a week, or four hours plus one hour of consultation on the home-based lessons. Currently classes are offered Tuesdays and Thursdays, with Wednesdays set aside for field trips.

Pfeiffer said it can be challenging to create lessons that will carry over to the next weekly session, instead of the traditional classroom with daily followup, but homeschool parents tend to be very committed and involved in their children’s education.

“We have parents here who have planned out their children’s entire curriculum. They are very detailed and organized,” he said.