New Montana public charter schools get ready for school year

As this school year gets underway, school districts across Montana are set to open more than a dozen new public charter schools, under a state law enacted last year.

Each of the 17 charter schools set to start operating this year is going to look a little different – and that means the work it takes to get them ready is going to look different as well.

“The engagement with the parents is really a lot more involved in explaining their options, because they're so new and so different that it takes a little more time – but it's really, really exciting,” said Josh McKay, assistant superintendent for Helena Public Schools.

In January, the Montana Board of Public Education approved 19 proposed charter schools from 11 school districts – though two aren’t scheduled to open this year.

Three of the successful proposals were from Helena Public Schools. The most different for the district will be the Mount Ascension Learning Academy, which will offer middle- and high-school students individualized learning plans that can range from fully in-person to fully virtual. McKay has been meeting directly with families to design the plans.

“The response has been really, really positive,” he said.

Jonathon Ambarian

Schools are setting aside “transition centers,” rooms where teachers will be able to work in person with Mount Ascension students.

“One of the things that we learned through online learning – COVID, if you will – is that we lost connectivity with our students – it is that interpersonal relationship,” said Helena Public Schools Superintendent Rex Weltz. “So these are areas in which students come in, work one-on-one with a teacher and then get that support, and then do what they need to do elsewhere.”

About 100 students are currently signed up for Mount Ascension.

“Parents that are choosing Mount Ascension are not dissatisfied with public education; they just want the ability to have choices of what works for them,” said Weltz.

Helena’s two other charter schools were already existing programs, but Weltz said converting them to charters will allow them to expand – and to claim additional funding from the state.

“It seems counterintuitive to stand up three new charter schools when our general fund, like every other district in the state, is short,” he said. “But the truth is that charter schools come with a basic entitlement which really fund themselves. It didn't cost us additional general fund dollars. In fact, it was a revenue source for us, just under $1 million.”

Jonathon Ambarian

The Helena Montessori Charter will be adding a kindergarten class at Central Elementary School, with 18 additional students this year. Weltz says it’s likely to continue to expand in the coming years – allowing them to address the growing waiting list to get into the district’s Montessori program.

“Turning this into a charter school, we'd like to limit the amount of wait time that our community, the parents and families, had,” he said.

The district’s Project for Alternative Learning, which already offers a different educational environment, is not going to substantially change how it operates this year, but Weltz said they will be planning what the school’s future will look like as a charter. They hope to add ninth-grade students starting next year.

Weltz said it will take time for the district and for families to get used to the new options.

“I just got a phone call from a parent that needs PAL, but then learned of Mount Ascension and said, ‘Well, that could be the one that we go to instead,’” he said. “So that's the exciting part about what the Helena School District has for options, is that students can choose what was best for them.”

McKay said HPS still has open spots for Mount Ascension. He encouraged anyone with questions about the district’s charter programs to call the central office at (406) 324-2004.

In the East Helena School District, leaders say it’s been hard work to get kids signed up and staff assigned for their 227 Academy charter.

“It's fast and furious,” said Superintendent Dan Rispens.

Rispens said earlier this year that the application and planning process was already a quick turnaround for districts. East Helena was further delayed as they dealt with the aftermath of significant vandalism .

The 227 Academy is also focused on individualized education. Rispens said one major emphasis will be on allowing students to work through curriculum at their own pace, and the district is looking at options for things like dual enrollment, dual credit and early graduation going forward.

“It's not going to be a super fabulous grand opening,” he said. “It'll be a little more subtle, and we'll build things as we go – and we really want a lot of input from the kids.”