Changes at Chinook Public School

Dear Parents:

Where oh where did the summer go? We are scheduled to resume school on Monday, August 19th. The first bell will ring at 7:55 and classes will begin promptly at 8:00; same as last year. Teachers will report August 15th and 16th. With the exception of Hartland Colony School, both the elementary and high school districts are continuing on with the 4-day school week.

If you’ve been keeping score at home, you will know that we lost some long-time administrative staff, including Matt and Paula Molyneaux and Leslee Weber to retirement, our district clerk, Moses Deanon, moved on to the Havre School District and last but certainly not least, our high school secretary and assistant clerk, Chrissy Downs, who passed away this summer following her battle with cancer. Simply put, we lost a lot of day-to-day operational knowledge in the last two months, so there will likely be some growing pains as the school year starts out. We will ask that you be patient with the office staff as we develop new protocols for different situations. Some things may just be done a little differently than they have in the past.

It has become increasingly difficult for rural schools in Montana to find staff, from janitorial staff to teaching staff, administrators and district clerks. According to a news article shared by the Montana School Board Association, as of Aug. 1, “the Office of Public Instruction's employment portal listed 853 active job postings for licensed public-school positions in Montana.” We have been fortunate to find a team to build around and I am confident we will have a great year, although it is possible we could stumble a bit out of the starting blocks. That said, things will look a little different this year with a new elementary principal, Danelle Gibson and a new junior high/high school principal, Brian Rayburn, who will also serve as our activities’ director. Mike Jones will remain the assistant activities director. We also have a new district clerk, Tiffany Kimberling, and a new high school secretary, Renda Kelly. We are still looking for another part time office assistant. There is even a new German teacher at the school in Hartland, John Wipf.

We have been fortunate to find two new teachers for the elementary. Ms. Ellie Perrine will be the new 2nd grade teacher, replacing Mrs. Barber and Mrs. Emily Scofield is set to return to the Meadowlark to teach 3rd grade, replacing Mrs. Davies. Mrs. Ruby Merza will take over elementary special education, replacing Mrs. Reid (Loceo). Mr. Karl Merza will teach math to the 3rd grade in the morning helping to reduce their class size for reading and math. Ms. Jones will move from elementary PE to 4th grade, replacing Mr. Gordon. Because we no longer need two 6th grade teachers, we are converting Mrs. Noel to be the new music teacher. We could not find a certified elementary PE teacher, but we did find Trent Noel, who will obtain a temporary license while he goes back to school to get his teaching endorsement for PE.

On the junior high – high school side of things, Mrs. Paulsen will be back to full time given the large number of junior high students this year. Ms. Macleod (not to be confused with Mrs. Macleod) and Mrs. Noel will teach 7th grade Civics. Mr. Michael Vinluan is the new high school science teacher, replacing Mr. Chriss, and Ms. Jordyn Koenig will teach high school English, replacing Dr Miller. We have not been successful in finding a business teacher to replace Mrs. Molyneaux, so we will rely on digital academy for this upcoming year for business/computer classes. Mr. Merza will come up to the high school and will assist with Title and special education in the afternoon.

Another significant change the board has made is the removal of student usage of cell phones during the school day. This will include passing periods. Students caught using their phones (or smart watches) inside the school building during the school day will need to turn them into the office and the parent will need to come pick them up. Parents, please explain this to your students ahead of time and plan accordingly. If you need to reach your student during the day, you will need to contact the office or wait to get in touch with them during lunch hour or after school.

Our five largest classes in the district are located in the junior high - high school. While we will certainly remain in Class B the next several years, it will not be long before we have less than 100 students in the high school and are back in Class C. While the numbers will change, as of August 4th, our enrollment looks as follows:

12th 31 6 21 HS 118 Students

11 28 5 18 JH 66 Students

10 35 4 18 EL 135 Students

9 24 3 26

8 34 2 20

7 32 1 17 K 15

Callie Hines and Danelle Gibson are in the office at the Meadowlark and can be reached at 357-2033. The elementary open house is set for Thursday, August 15th from 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM.

Renda Kelly, Brian Rayburn and Fred Hofman at in the office at the high school and can be reached at 357-2236. Junior high and high school students can stop in Monday through Friday, August 12th – 16th, between 8:00 AM- 4:00 PM to pick up their class schedules, register for classes, get their locker assignment and meet Mr. Rayburn. 7-12 students may also pick up their class schedules Monday morning, August 19th, the first day of school.

Sincerely,

Fred Hofman