Last week, Student Council organized an awesome week as we celebrated homecoming.  Students had the opportunity to dress-up, make a float for the parade, and enjoy a little friendly competition.  I was so excited to have such a great turn-out for all events.  
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The week also brought our first CoVid case and we placed an elementary class in distance learning for two weeks.  I have been beyond impressed with how staff, students, and parents have adapted to this difficult situation.  Thank you to everyone for making this situation work so smoothly. 

Looking forward, this week is a short week as staff has professional development opportunities Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.  The following week we will host our first play-off game on the 24th.  

We did it.  We made it through the 1st two weeks!  A few hiccups along the way, a day under the Governor's Directive, and lots of laughs and learning.
I am so pleased with how well the students are adapting to new expectations.  Thank you to our parents and staff for making this a positive transition.  This past week the American Legion provided our 1st grade students with new backpacks!  We greatly appreciate their support of our young learners. Last week we also held our Student Council elections.  I am so proud of the students were running for a position.  Our student council plays an important role in creating a positive school culture. 
Did you know that last year's senior class graduated with 36 dual enrollment credits. This means that a handful of students were able to take college classes during the day.  The classes count as one their high school graduation requirements as well earning a college credit at a greatly reduced price. Any high school student who meets requirements put in place by the college has this opportunity. 
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It has been too long since these halls were filled with our students!  I can't wait until everyone is back.  This year is going to look a little different.  We are offering an online option in addition to our brick and mortar.  Whichever choice you make, it is our goal to provide a quality educational opportunity.  Please contact us with questions, as a team we will be able to tackle any hurdle!

CoVID seems to be at the forefront of any conversation.  It is essential to keep our students and staff healthy.  But we have so much more going on that we can offer some focus to!  First, we are excited to welcome our new first grade teacher Miss. Linnae Albrecht.  Her energy and enthusiasm are contagious.  We have  great opportunity to provide extra supports and educational opportunity to our students on Friday.  Our Friday schedule allows for students who are choosing the online option to meet with their teachers and for students who are working to close a gap to have additional academic support. Students 6-8 will continue on the Summit Platform which saw many updates over the summer, including more project choices for the teachers. 

Keep Safe and We Look Forward to Seeing You Soon!!

The year continues to move quickly.  We have begun the hustle that becomes with the holiday season.  We are looking forward to concerts, the science fair, displays of art, and of course continuing to grow as learners.  

We were very pleased with the turnout at parent-teacher conferences.  Over 83% of parents were able to come.  Thank you for taking the time to join us.  We are brainstorming on how to be more efficienct with our 7-12 meetings so that people have a shorter wait time.  Please remember, if a conference is taking over 5 minutes another meeting should be scheduled.  During parent-teacher conferences we had parents complete a survey.  The results are: 

1. Question 1: Do you have a preference for the graduation day?
   1. 60 said No, 5 said Saturday or Friday, , 4 said May 17th, 1 said N/A
2. Is holding graduation on Sunday a problem for you?
   1. 3 said Yes
   2. 65 said No
   3. 2 no answer
3. Do you have any issue with our current school calendar?
   1. 2 n/a
   2. 15 yes
      1. Suggestions: Start after Labor Day, Homecoming should not be same week as quarter end, early out Wednesday are a “hassle” (2), should have federal holidays off (4), less Fridays off (8), 4 day school week would be “great” (4), more Mondays off (1), longer spring break (1).
   3. 53 don’t have any issue, said it is great, and or said no but added a comment which is above.
4. Do you support our semester test policy?
   1. 7 n/a
   2. 7 No
      1. Suggestions: Doctor note should not count against semester test (3), kids should take semester tests to prepare for college (4).
   3. 56 Yes

These results are valuable and help our board, administration, and staff reflect.  A few take-aways for myself, include helping our community understand our calendar and MTSS process.  Schools in Montana are required to provide 1080 hours of pupil instruction a year to be credit bearing (this does have a few variations, including hours required for seniors).  Therefore, our calendar is built to meet this requirement.  Bells, recesses, and lunch schedules impact our schedule at grade-level so not all grades are created equal when it comes to accounting for minutes. Second, our school appreciates the community support for our MTSS early-outs.  This is our only time to meet at a whole staff to evaluate processes and ensure that are we serving students to the best of our ability.  

To help create a succesful day please send your child ready for the day, including: coats, hats, and winter shoes.  If your child has had a fever please keep them home for 24 hours to help minimize the spread of bugs.  

How is it 2nd quarter?  I apologize for my lack of posting!  During the 1st quarter, students MAP tested to ensure that we are providing appropriate instructional supports.  This means, students are receiving differentiated instruction.  Individuated instruction aids in promoting student academic gains.  We anticipate seeing these gains on our next round of MAP testing as well as on the SBAC.  We continuously monitor through progress monitoring.  
Justine Hurley, our 3rd grade teacher, was awarded the PAEMST Award.  This national award recognizes Justine's great work in Science Teaching.   Ms. Hurley spent a few days in Washington, D.C. receiving her award and spending some time with other awardees.   Our district is fortunate to have such an amazing 3rd grade teacher!
We were able to have Shane Doyle, a member of the Crow Tribe, present on local tribal history. Mr. Doyle is an educator with MSU and a cultural consultant.  His presentation was captivating.  
To end the quarter we celebrated homecoming and held an end of quarter mentoring and MTSS assembly for K-6.  Homecoming saw the return of bed races, which proved entertaining.  K-6 students celebrated their implementation of our Expectation Matrix.  

Hard to believe the summer is behind us!  I hope everyone had a moment to enjoy the limited sun.  
We are excited to kick off our 2019-2020 school year.  Students participated in our welcome back assembly,  7-12 students enjoyed playing the telephone game and  K-6 played a little simon-says.  We reviewed expectations and talked about our school being a community. 
Looking forward we will continue to strive toward excellence.  Staff is hard at work assessing students to ensure that we served each child to the best of our ability.  In-effort to ensure student excellence please encourage your child to  be here on time and every day .  Of course, if they have had a fever or vomiting  please keep them home for 24 hours post either.  Another great way to support student learning is to read with your child.  
Along with a a number of new students we have a few new staff.  If  you see them, please welcome them to the community: Andrew Heck (5th grade), Kelly Seitz (art), Nic Coughlin (AD and history). 
A special thanks to our Legion for providing backpacks to the first grade class. 

We have entered the last quarter of the 2018-2019 school year.  During this time of year everything feels in overdrive; students and staff are exceptionally busy. 
Seniors have counted and their days are winding down. A few of the upcoming dates, include: Close Up students will leave April 28th and enjoy their travels for a week.  FFA will head to state next week, April 3rd.  Kindergarten round-up is April 10th.  K-6 award and track day is May 15th.  
With a full calendar, good attendance is key in staying caught up.  
Students will also be ACT and Smarter Balanced testing.  We encourage students to be well rested and hydrated prior to taking these tests.  We utilize this data to provide individual support for students; therefore, students doing their best allows us to best provide supports and opportunities.  
After reviewing surveys, meeting as a curriculum committee, and following support from the board we will continue with Summit in grades sixth and seventh for the 2019-2020 school year.  We will also expand into the eighth grade.  If you have missed previous information on Summit, it is at a basic level:  an online platform that focuses on cognitive skill assessments, project based learning, and goal setting through mentoring.  Summit provides a curriculum for core subjects.  Teachers, as always, supplement and adapt were they see student need.  Concerns have been that students will have an increase in screen time, while in a specific class this may be true across all subjects we have not seen an increase in screen time.
K-6 parents you may hear your students talking about "Hornet Bucks" this is part of our MTSS initiative.  Students and classes have the opportunity to earn hornet bucks when they are observed following matrix expectations.  Along with hornet bucks as part of our MTSS initiative we recently held our "slump day".  Our 7-12 students joined elementary students for an hour, role modeling positive behaviors.  Then 7-12 students either went on to a study hall or a speed ball game.  Staff and students had a friendly competition in speed ball to celebrate 3rd quarter success academically and behaviorally.
More later....  

We can hope right?  Thank you to everyone for their patience as we make decisions for buses and start times as the weather blows in and out.  Hal Haugen and Mr. Markuson have been hard at work keeping the snow plowed.  Please be sure to be sending your child with outdoor gear every day.  They love getting the fresh air.

Our students, 5-8, competed in the annual spelling bee.  Kendra Manger took first  and Brooke Thorp followed her, taking second.  Our students did a great job as it is nerve wracking to stand in front of a crowd and spell words on the spot!  Also this past month students had the opportunity to visit UM on a college visit. 

On March 13th we will be working with Sealants for Smiles to provide students K-6 a quick dental screening.  This service is free to the school district as well as parents.  

A few other dates to keep in mind: quarter 4 begins the 18th of March and the JH/HS Acadmeic Olympics are the 19th and 20th of March in Bozeman.

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I hope everyone had an awesome winter break.  Semester One proved to be busy and provided many opportunities to celebrate student success.  We had 103 students, 4-12, earn honor roll for quarter 2.  With the end of seniors 7th quarter, we have the honor to recognize and name our valedictorian-Alannah Phillips and salutatorian-William Hanson.

We are into quarter three and have many great things occurring.  A few classes just completed Winter MAP testing.  I am pleased with the results, 75% of 7th grade students saw an increase in at least one of  their individual sub-tests.  In 6th grade, 92% of student saw an increase in at least one of  their sub-tests. 100% of second grade and third grade students saw an increase in at least on sub-tests.  No other whole classes were tested.  

Next week we have a school-assembly for grades 4-6 followed by 7-12.  The assembly "Life That Counts" will present on individual character with a focus on helping students make positive choices. Next week is busy as we are also hosting a tour for Leadership Montana.  Leadership Montana will then host a luncheon for the staff. 

Looking forward, elementary staff has been meeting one day a week in the morning, they are making a positive effort to continue with next steps of our MBI implementation and standard alignment across K-6.

Have a great week!
Jacque Boyd

We have had a busy end to 2018.  Students, K-6, had the opportunity to explore the magic of science while observing labs in the high school science class.  Our K-4 students headed to Great Falls to watch the symphony.  Many students had the chance to discover the beauty of astronomy via the Museum of the Rockies STARLAB brought in by Ms. Hurley.   More recently, we were treated to concerts K-12.  During our last school day of 2018, our students and staff will be spending time together.  In spending time together, our older students will serve as role-models for our younger students while engaging in fun holiday activities. Last but not least, we would like to thank the community and Chamber of Commerce for the donations made to the elementary.   

Looking forward, we will start the new year with the same vigor that we closed the year.  On January 2nd we will have an early release.  Staff will use this time to work with local law enforcement to review and practice our "intruder drill".  

The semester ends on January 11th.  For 7-12, the semester testing schedule is out.  Semester tests run Jan. 9-11th.  As the semester comes to a close, I encourage students to continue to be attentive to reducing tardies and increasing daily attendance.   Students, K-12, will be given formal assessments over the next few weeks, to allow us to assess educational strategies and placement to ensure we are serving our students to the best of our ability.  

I hope everyone has wonderful break!