Better days ahead in Heart Butte school

HEART BUTTE — It would be easy to dismiss Heart Butte Schools as a failure.

The school has been through eight administrators in just a few years, has a dropout rate in the double digits, had a 50 percent staff turnover this year, has a student body living in poverty and struggled to meet proficiency standards on state and federal assessments in math and English for more than a decade.

But not all is lost in this K-12 school with 187 students sitting on 40 acres next to the Rocky Mountain Front in the southwest corner of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. In fact things are very much on the rise for the Heart Butte Warriors and will hopefully continue to improve thanks to a new investment from the Montana Office of Public Instruction’s $1.4 million Schools of Promise grant program.

“I think we’re moving in the right direction,” said Jody Aimsback, a parent and coach at the school.

The $1.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s school improvement grant fund will be spread out over four years. State Superintendent Denise Juneau said Heart Butte is the sixth school in Montana identified for the Schools of Promise program. The program launched in 2010 to raise standards and expectations in the poorest performing 5 percent of schools in the state. All of the schools identified have been on or next to reservations.

“It’s some of the most important work we do,” Juneau said.

Last week, Juneau and other staffers from the Montana Office of Public Instruction visited Heart Butte to launch the program. They held meetings with students, tribal leaders and the community to share their vision that focuses on both radical and long-lasting transformations – and can be a tough sell.

“We have to prove ourselves to them,” Juneau said. “They’ve heard this pitch before.”

Being part of the Schools of Promise program requires following some strict guidelines. For example, a school must hire a new administrative team, get teachers’ unions to sign a memorandum of understanding tying evaluations to student performance and set achievement goals. But the grant also provides funding for instructional coaches for teachers, administrators and the school board as well as providing mental health support services. In addition to that, teachers are given access to more professional development opportunities.

Administrators, parents and kids are hopeful that this program will work.

Already, parents such as Jody and Nichole Aimsback, longtime Heart Butte residents, said they’re seeing a difference in the school environment by hiring two local administrators. Greg Hirst, who was raised in Heart Butte and returned last year to teach, was appointed as superintendent. Corrina Hall, who grew up in Browning and was previously superintendent in another Schools of Promise community, Frazer, is the new K-12 principal.

“They really want change. Our community wants change,” Hall said. “It helps having native leaders who are from here.”

Kyleigh Tailfeathers, a senior, said she knows all-too-well the stories of her friends who say they’re going to graduate high school and go to college. They might graduate high school and maybe attend Blackfeet Community College, but rarely ever do they finish.

She said she likes her new administrators and is proud of the school’s athletic accomplishments. Perhaps if there were more opportunities to do sports – with participation tied to academic achievement – maybe it would entice more students to take school seriously.

“I want to see our school improve,” Tailfeathers said. “Without basketball, football and volleyball (students) don’t have anything to aim for.”

Already the school has added a rodeo club and re-started its cross country program this fall. Hall said while she was still working as superintendent in Frazer last spring, knowing that she was coming to Heart Butte, she applied for and received a 21st Century Learning Grant for Heart Butte worth $467,000.

That grant, spread out over five years, will allow the district to implement robotics programming, help with language and culture classes for students that will include adopting elders in Heart Butte, bringing in local musicians to work with kids, partnering with Blackfeet Community College on career readiness activities, provide dinner-time meals at the school and more.

“We’re investing in our students and bringing pride into our community,” Hall said.

Grinnell Day Chief, chairman of the Heart Butte school board, said pride and stability is what this school district needs. Financially, the district is in better fiscal shape than in previous years. He’s happy to have support from OPI and knows that in addition to an instructional coach, the school board will have a coach helping trustees manage the district better.

“I’m hoping we make really big strides,” Day Chief said. “I want to make sure we’re no longer in the bottom 5 percent. I see us being in the upper 75 percent. I see that realistically happening.”

Juneau and her staff have helped shepherd through changes in other reservation communities that participated in Schools of Promise: Hays-Lodge Pole, Lodge Grass, Lame Deer, Pryor and Frazer.

The data results are mixed. Dropout rates dropped in some communities for a few years and spiked again. Attendance rates improved over five years in Frazer. Hall said Frazer made adequate yearly progress on standardized testing by making more than 10 percent gains in reading and math scores.

But Juneau said the statistics can be tricky, especially when dealing with such small population of students. Most of these schools have 100 students or less and a couple of students can skew the results.

“From year to year there are definitely bright spots and low spots,” she said. “It’s still difficult to look at those numbers. Data, it doesn’t tell the whole story.”

Juneau said she knows there has been an improvement in school environment in each of these communities. Students are feeling more supported. OPI hasn’t collected statewide data on the number of interventions needed to get students up to speed in math and reading, but Juneau said in each of the Schools of Promise the number of interventions needed has dropped.

Juneau said she’d like to get more data on the mental health services being offered to students in each of these communities. Being from such high-poverty areas and experiencing a lot of personal trauma, many of these students are considered at-risk for many things including dropping out of high school, drug and alcohol abuse and suicide.

Though she’s quick to say there are many other factors involved, Juneau said none of the students who have been served by the mental health professionals are reported as being suicidal.

Hall said the biggest success factor in Frazer was developing partnerships with everyone from Fort Peck Community College to tribal health officials.

Hopefully Heart Butte can form partnerships as well to benefit the students. Hall said the goal is to see 10 percent increases in reading and math scores, increased attendance rates and decreased disciplinary actions.

“We have a big job to do and we have to build a positive rapport,” Hall said. “It’s an amazing staff and they’ve really embraced the ideas we’ve brought forward so far. They just want leadership – positive leadership that will be sustainable and our students need that so they can build trust.”

Juneau said OPI will continue to be involved in Heart Butte’s progress, with regular visits and a lot more time spent gathering student input.

“You’re going to see great things out of Heart Butte,” she said. “You will.”

Reach Tribune Staff Writer Kristen Cates at 791-1463. Follow her on Twitter @GFTrib_KCates.