Dear Helena Public Schools Families and Staff,

We’ve reached the last day of the first semester!

Congratulations to our students for your hard work and to our parents for supporting a successful first half of the school year.

As you attend parent-teacher conferences this month and receive report cards, please be sure to congratulate your student on their achievements, taking time to reflect on how their hard work has paid off.

For areas that need more work, remember that our staff is here to help your student succeed. Your child’s teacher and/or school counselors are eager to work with you on strategies to achieve year-end learning goals. Our theme for this year is “Better Together,” and our first semester has borne that out.

Remember that there is no school on Monday as staff participate in an in-service day.

Looking ahead, we have a three-day weekend for Presidents’ Day February 17, followed by Spring Break March 31 through April 4.

I’d also like to alert our high school families to a new schedule change in April.

ACT Day is April 8, no school for freshmen and seniors

There will be no school on Tuesday, April 8, for high school freshmen and seniors. On this day, our high school juniors and seniors will participate in ACT and Pre-ACT assessment testing.

The ACT is a critical exam for high school juniors. The State of Montana requires the test to assess college readiness and statewide academic achievement among high school juniors as they approach the end of their K-12 careers. Students also use their results to apply for scholarships and college admissions.

The PreACT, meanwhile, is a full-length practice test for sophomores. Teachers and students will use the results to determine course registrations for next year and to gauge college and career readiness.

Both tests must be “proctored,” or monitored, in person by staff members in each classroom where students are testing, meaning we’ll have all hands on deck to support our sophomores and juniors on test day. The online tests will also consume most of the Wi-Fi bandwidth and other tech resources at our high schools.

This dedicated “ACT Day” will allow sophomores and juniors to take the exam without distractions or interruptions, ensuring they have the best-possible environment for success.

For the past five years, Helena Public Schools juniors have consistently outperformed the state average on all four ACT benchmarks – math, science, reading and English. And out of all Montana high school graduates who pursue degrees at the Montana University System after high school, Helena Public Schools has the lowest percentage of students who are required to take remedial math and writing courses.

Rigorous academic programs support college readiness

This is not by accident. Our district offers rigorous academic programs designed to foster students’ future success whatever their plans hold – be it college, career, vocational training, military or other.

Beginning in kindergarten, student progress is tracked using powerful and granular data assessment tools. Teachers use these insights to tailor each child’s education to their specific needs – providing extra challenges or extra support where needed.

At the high school level, students are offered a wide range of honors and Advanced Placement (AP) courses across English, math, science and foreign languages.

Both Capital High and Helena High are on the national 2024 AP School Honor Roll, which recognizes high schools for broadening access to rigorous, college-level coursework. Capital High and Helena High are among only 32 percent of eligible schools in the United States to be recognized on the Honor Roll for 2024.

And since 2020, both CHS and HHS have seen steady increases in the number of total AP students, number of exams taken, number of AP students with scores of 3 or higher, and percent of AP students with scores of 3 or higher.

This is the model of education and success that Helena Public Schools has long offered our community and that we aim to continue as we seek funding relief during the current Legislative Session. Dozens of bills introduced this session have the potential to affect students, staff and school operations for better or for worse.

Watch for weekly legislative updates

Our administrative team is carefully monitoring each piece of proposed legislation with the help of our public education advocacy partners, including the Montana School Boards Association (MTSBA) and School Administrators of Montana (SAM).

Starting today, we’ll share a weekly legislative update in this newsletter to keep you apprised. We hope this will help you engage in the education issues that matter most to you.

Japanese Consul General visits Helena High

This week also brought an opportunity to discuss education issues on a global level.

Helena High School was honored Thursday by a visit from Makoto Iyori, Consul General of Japan in Seattle. The Montana Department of Commerce coordinated the visit in recognition of our state’s robust trade relationship with Japan, which purchased over $240 million in grain and other exports from Montana last year alone.

“The relationship between Japan and Montana is rooted in the legacy of Ambassador Mike Mansfield from Butte, the longest-serving ambassador to Japan, and our sister state relationship with Kumamoto Prefecture, established in 1982,” stated a Department of Commerce press release on the Consul General’s visit. Kumamoto is located on Japan’s southern island of Kyūshū.

Former Helena High School Principal Steve Thennis deepened our state’s educational ties with Kumamoto Prefecture, forging a relationship with Helena High’s official sister school – Senshu University Tamana High School. The first exchange was in 2013, when Helena High hosted 13 band students from Tamana. Mr. Thennis sustained the relationship and even visited Tamana High School before his retirement last spring to deliver a commencement speech to the Class of 2024.

This fall, Helena High AP Geography Teacher Lauren Gustafson and three of her students visited the City of Kumamoto to attend the “World Tsunami Awareness Day” conference, joining students and educators from 42 countries around the world. The trip was paid for by the Japanese government.

On Wednesday Ms. Gustafson and her students who visited Japan – Kenzie Criswell, Evelyn Callery and Eva Skibicki – spoke about their experience during a social and panel discussion at the Capitol Rotunda.

During a small, round-table conversation with the Japanese Consul General at Helena High yesterday, Ms. Gustafson shared the profound impact the trip had on her students, including the opportunity to meet the mayor and the governor and hear a speech by Japan’s prime minister.

Helena High Principal Brian Kessler shared his hope to establish Tamana-Helena exchange trips on an annual basis, with HHS students traveling to Japan or hosting Tamana students here in Helena every other year.

We’re proud to be part of Montana’s partnership with Japan as we seek to share Montana culture abroad and graduate global citizens.

Makoto Iyori, Japanese Consul General in Seattle (right), visits with Assistant Superintendent Josh McKay, Helena High Principal Brian Kessler and Helena High AP Geography Teacher Lauren Gustafson.

Winter sports season is in full swing

We have a number of students traveling a bit closer to home over the weekend.

Our advanced drama students are in Missoula to learn, perform and compete for scholarships at the State Thespian festival at the University of Montana. Best of luck to each of our performers!

Meanwhile, our swimmers and wrestlers are headed to meets in Great Falls and Lewistown while our basketball teams prepare to host games here at home. Go Bengals and Bruins!

Enjoy this long weekend. We look forward to starting a super second semester on Tuesday!

Respectfully,