Friday Update from Superintendent Weltz | Feb. 16, 2024

Helena Public Schools > News > Friday Update from Superintendent Weltz | Feb. 16, 2024

Dear Families and Staff,

Thank you to all who attended or tuned in to Tuesday evening’s Board of Trustees meeting, some staying late into the night.

It was inspiring to see so many parents, staff and community members stepping forward to be informed and involved. Your impassioned voices drove home how deeply our Helena community values our public schools.

Board members received reports from two stakeholder groups that have worked over the past year to provide vital recommendations for our district’s future.

Thank you to each of the volunteers who took time out of busy lives to serve on the Budget Recommendation Consensus Committee. This work was not easy, but will provide important direction for our Board of Trustees as we address the budget shortfall facing Helena Public Schools and other Montana AA districts.

Our district is also deeply grateful to the Facilities Master Planning Stakeholders Group and SMA Architecture + Design for their work leading the Facilities Master Planning Process.

Trustees will spend the next few weeks reviewing the budget and facilities reports, which they saw for the first time Tuesday evening. We look forward to revisiting these documents at the Board’s next regular meeting on Tuesday, March 12.

Trustees also approved holding a general election for May 7. The district will ask our community to approve levies for general operations, safety and security, and technology. In the coming weeks, we’ll share details of how these levies will protect our students and support 21^st Century learning technology.

We have many Student & Educator Recognitions we have to share this week. Thank you to our parents and community volunteers for all you do to help our students excel!

Enjoy the long weekend with your loved ones.

Respectfully,

Signature: Rex M. Weltz, Superintendent

Rex M. Weltz, Superintendent
Helena Public Schools

Student and Educator Recognitions

Swimmers and Wrestlers take state titles

It was an outstanding weekend for our swim and wrestling athletes who earned state titles and even set a new all-time record at state tournaments over the weekend.

On the mat, Capital High Wrestler Cole Graham clinched the state championship at 182 lbs.

In the pool, Helena High’s Garrett Krattiger earned two state titles, winning the Boys 100 Yard Backstroke event and 500 Yard Freestyle, setting a new record time in the latter at 4:39.74. 2.

The Capital High Bruins Boys Wrestling Team was also awarded the Stockman Bank Team Sportsmanship Award for the 2024 MHSA State Wrestling Tournament. Way to go Bruin Boys!

Stockman Bank team award with photo of CHS Wrestlers.

Our Bengals and Bruins also had multiple top finishers:

CHS Wrestling

Taylor Lay: 2nd Girls Wrestling at 120 lbs.

Wyatt Shull: 6th Boys Wrestling at 113 lbs.

HHS Wrestling

Clara Schuele: 6th Girls Wrestling at 138lbs girls

CHS Swim

Capital Boys Team: 2nd at State

200 Yard Boys Medley Relay 2nd

400 Yard Boys Freestyle Relay 2nd

Everson Connors: 3rd Boys 200-Yard Freestyle and 500 Yard Freestyle

Isaac Urban: 3rd Boys 100-Yard Freestyle

Ryan Oberg: 5th Boys 100-Yard Backstroke

Isaac Urban: 5th Boys 50-Yard Freestyle

Lincoln Cochran: 6th 100-Yard Breaststroke

Elizabeth Urban: 6th Girls 100-Yard Breaststroke

HHS Swim

Devin Goetsch: 2nd, Boys 200-Yard Individual Medley

Devin Goetsch: 4th, Boys 100-Yard Butterfly

Congratulations to all of our Bengal and Bruin swimmers and wrestlers on an outstanding season!

Speech & Debate competitors headed to Nationals

Congratulations to Layla Riggs, who earned a slot at the 2024 National Speech & Debate Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa, in June. And a huge thanks to our community members who volunteered to help Helena host the National Speech & Debate Association Qualifier Tournament here in Helena last weekend.

In other Speech & Debate placements:

Zaraj Carrucini (Capital) is first alternate and Emerson Poole (Helena) is second alternate in Original Oratory. Ethan Taylor (Helena) was also a semifinalist in Original Oratory.

Samual Hutchinson (Helena High) was a semifinalist in Humorous Interpretation. Lyric Lanes (Capital) was a semifinalist in International Extemporaneous.

Photos of CHS and HHS speech and debate competitors sitting on bleachers.

Five HPS Students Named Presidential Scholar Candidates

The Presidential Scholars Program was created in created in 1964 by executive order of the President. The program is one of the nation’s highest honors for high school students. Five members of our Helena Public Schools graduating class of 2024 are among nationwide candidates to this elite group, which will be announced later this spring. A total of 161 students will be selected.

Congratulations and good luck to:

Capital High School
Katherine Berg, Aria Ehlert, and Liam McAdams

Helena High School
Kai Moser and Annika Nehring

Five HPS Students Advance as National Merit Scholars

Five Helena Public Schools students are among the nation’s National Merit Scholarship Finalists, reaching the final stage in one of the nation’s most competitive academic award programs.

Of the 1.5 million applicants from across the nation who submit PSAT scores to the program, approximately 16,000 semi-finalists are chosen. Having advanced to Finalist status, these Helena students are now eligible to compete for just over 7,000 prestigious National Merit Scholarships that will be awarded later this spring.

Congratulations and good luck!

Capital High School

Anna Gates
Carter Hoffman
Liam McAdams

Helena High School

Kai Moser and Annika Nehring