Hellgate Elementary Expanding From a K-8 School District into a K-12 School District - A Consideration of an Idea…
Over the past year, the Hellgate Elementary Board of Trustees has spent a great deal of time talking about and defending its philosophical position as to why it believes the school district should be allowed to consider expanding into a K-12 school district. The school board truly believes that by expanding to a K-12 school district, Hellgate Elementary would be able to continue the strong personal relationships it has built with its students and its parents. That continuing relationship would result in lowering high school drop-out rates, providing meaningful high school graduation pathways, lowering the potential for school-based violence; increasing the sense of social safety and connectedness among and between our students; increasing teacher satisfaction and lowering teacher turnover; and increasing student, parent, and community appreciation and happiness with the institution of school.
But, the real question the trustees always come back to when questioned, is why not allow Hellgate Elementary taxpayers and community stakeholders the opportunity to gauge local voter support on the school district expansion issue? Why not give a K-8 school district the opportunity to decide if it wishes to expand into a K-12 school district? What is the fear – is it the fear that voters, such as those at Hellgate Elementary, will actually want to opt out of the “large” Montana high school districts and form high school units that local voters believe would best serve the needs of their children?
Some research studies indicate that the appropriate size for a secondary school should not exceed 800. School size is often a contributing factor in adolescent alienation and that students who attend small schools have a greater chance to develop a sense of belonging than those who attend large schools. In fact, minimizing the alienation that commonly afflicts adolescents appears to be one of the most redeeming qualities of smaller secondary school units. Moreover, some research shows that students in smaller schools are more likely to bond with their teachers and peers, they more readily identify with their schools, and that parent involvement is higher. Montana Class “AA” size high schools work for some kids but for many, they do not.
As a K-8 school district, the Hellgate Elementary Board of Trustees believes that the school district has developed a unique and identifiable school culture – a non-negotiable set of core values, beliefs, and traditions that have provided students, parents, and community stakeholders with a system of understanding and meaning as to what Hellgate Elementary stands for. Shipping Hellgate Elementary students off to a secondary school system in which the students have little attachment and then trying to form “schools within schools” to play catch-up and hopefully build connectedness among students with very little in common lessens that system of understanding and meaning.
The school board believes that having a smaller high school unit would provide a better opportunity to increase student participation rates in extra-curricular activities and students being more active in a greater number of extra-curricular activities. Smaller high school units provide kids with more opportunity to participate, a reduction in the sense of student fragmentation and peer alienation, and opportunities for students to know each other personally. The Hellgate Elementary K-8 system has allowed students and parents to develop deep interpersonal relationships among and between teachers, administrators, and other school staff members. That can carry over into the high school setting.
In June of this year, the MCPS (Missoula County Public Schools) architectural consultant from CTA stated in the Missoulian (the local newspaper) that, “we expect about 900 more students in the next ten years - that’s another Big Sky High School”. Why should that new “high school” not be a Hellgate Elementary High School? After all, many of those new high school students will be Hellgate Elementary students. Hellgate Elementary students, who, by the way, for a majority of their education program, have been immersed in the successful Hellgate Elementary K-8 educational program model since kindergarten.
Why, as the Hellgate Elementary Board of Trustees, do we want our voters/taxpayers to have an opportunity to decide on expanding the school district from as K-8 school district to as K-12 school district?
I. What does the Hellgate Elementary Board of Trustees want for students?
· The trustees want a high school setting where students believe that academic rigor, academic relevance, and the building of positive personal relationships are non-negotiable core beliefs.
· The trustees want a high school setting where students believe school is a welcoming and friendly place.
· The trustees want a high school setting where students believe that bullying is not a problem in their school.
· The trustees want a high school setting where students believe they are accepted for who they are.
· The trustees want a high school setting where students will not have difficulty fitting in at school.
· The trustees want a high school setting where students believe they are valued members of their school community.
· The trustees want a high school setting where students enjoy being at school.
· The trustees want a high school setting where students know that their teachers know them and respect them.
· The trustees want a high school setting where students respect each other.
II. What the Hellgate Elementary Board of Trustees want for teachers?
· The trustees want a high school setting where teachers believe they are valued and that they have a voice in decision-making at school.
· The trustees want a high school setting where teachers believe that meaningful professional development opportunities exist.
· The trustees want a high school setting where teachers believe there is effective and productive two-way communication between administration and staff personnel.
· The trustees want a high school setting where teachers believe that the district administration and school trustees respect them and value them as professional educators.
III. What the Hellgate Elementary Board of Trustees want for the district’s taxpayers and community stakeholders?
· The trustees want taxpayers and community stakeholders to have the opportunity to vote to expand the Hellgate Elementary from a K-8 school district to a K-12 school district.
· If the vote is not to expand, so be it. Hellgate Elementary will stay as a K-8 school district.
· If the vote is yes to expand, the trustees want district taxpayers and community stakeholders to know they will have a K-12 school district where all decision-making will be based on:
1. Is the decision educationally defensible to the district’s taxpayers and school community stakeholders?
2. Is the decision socially acceptable to the district’s taxpayers and school community stakeholders?
3. Is the decision fiscally responsible to the district’s taxpayers and school community stakeholders?
Why not change existing Montana law and allow Hellgate Elementary taxpayers and community stakeholders the opportunity to exercise local control over their individual school district and decide for themselves if expansion into a K-12 school district is the right thing to do? Who knows, a new high school may be created that is designed around the vision and mission of the district, believes in collaboration and team building, and promotes the integration of rigorous academic content with innovative instructional methodology in a safe and inviting environment. A new high school may be created that has a robust technological infrastructure in place in the school, can offer smaller, more intimate, learning environments, and the quality of instruction becomes the constant quantity and time becomes the variable quantity. As members of the Hellgate Elementary Board of Trustees, we believe the district taxpayers and community stakeholders should be given the opportunity to decide.
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