MISSION VALLEY - Doors are opening for students to expand their minds as the new school year continues from Arlee to Charlo.
There’s a lot that’s happened over the summer at two schools on the Flathead Indian Reservation.
“I’m really excited about the facility improvements we’ve done over the summer. We’ve done some work on the roof. We’ve done some things with our weight room. We’ve added some storage," Charlo Schools Superintendent Steve Love told MTN News. "The biggest improvement’s going to be a new HVAC system in our elementary and our high school building."
While Charlo made some physical changes, Arlee is adding a new subject to their upper grades.
“A big thing for Arlee is we haven’t had a music teacher for two years now. We’ve hired a music teacher this year so we actually get to have music back in the district," Arlee Schools Superintendent Mike Perry excitedly shared.
There's a lot the schools are looking forward to for the 2023-2024 year.
For example, Charlo is eager to keep up their level of accomplishment.
“We’ve had a tremendous run of academic success, athletic success and I think for us it’s just maintaining that," Love explained.
Meanwhile, Arlee has a district-wide focus this year.
“As a district, we have decided that this next year, that our total focus is going to be on reading," Perry detailed. "We really think that’s what’s gonna have the biggest impact on our students going forward. One of the things that we’re really gonna try and focus on is bringing the families and the communities into it and make sure that it’s more of a collaborative project.”
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Unlike many across the country, Arlee and Charlo are not struggling with teacher shortages.
“We were a little bit worried coming into the summer and obviously with the teacher shortages. But we do know that we’ll at least start the school year [at Arlee] with a teacher in front of every kid with every subject,” Perry stated.
“We had some big shoes to fill. We had some retirements and we also had some teachers that left to take other jobs," Love shared. "But, I feel really fortunate we got all those positions filled.”
However, coaches are still needed this year with Love saying that Charlo is still “looking for some coaching positions.”
Perry detailed that it's been tougher to fill positions for custodians, bus drivers, and coaches.
"Right now the majority of our coaches are teachers and that hasn’t necessarily been the case in the past. Luckily for the fall, we’ve had teachers step up and so all our coaching positions are filled for the fall to start the year off.”
Arlee Schools said they’re still looking for coaches for winter and spring sports.
Both schools run a four-day week and believe it has benefited their students and staff.
“We’ve done some surveys over the last several years and the community has really embraced the four-day school week and the employees have really embraced the four-day school week," Love told MTN News. "From the students' perspective, especially the students who are active in different events, or 4H, or they’re helping their mom and dad at home, it gives them an extra day at home with family.”
Community is a big part of these smaller schools.
Love mentioned that in a small town, students often see teachers around during the summer and that families know one another, “You know when you’re in a small town, kids call you Mr. Love but they also know you as Steve.”
Looking into the future, the Arlee and Charlo districts are optimistic for their students.
“We want our kids to be able to take on any job or any vocation that they would like to. Whether it's college, whether it's a trade, whether it's something entrepreneurial that they come up with themselves, we want them to be prepared for anything that they wanna do,” Perry concluded.
