For OPI Unit updates please click here.
Superintendent's Message
Please read Superintendent Arntzen's latest Op Ed, Superintendent Arntzen Urges Board of Public Education to Keep Teacher Licensing Fees Low.
Montana Alternative Student Testing (MAST) Pilot Program
The second testing window for the MAST Through-Year Pilot runs from November 27 through December 15, 2023, for grades 3 through 8 in math and reading/language arts.
MAST Statewide Implementation SY 2024-2025
On October 12, 2023, Superintendent Arntzen announced the transition away from the federally mandated end-of-year summative assessment Smarter Balanced. The MAST program is scheduled to fully replace the current statewide end-of year-assessment beginning with the 2024-2025 school year. The MAST will become the new general math and reading/language arts assessment for academic achievement reporting and accountability for grades 3–8 for the 2024-2025 school year. Read the press release here.
Window 1 Completion Rates
The OPI would like to express our gratitude for the collaborative efforts of all our stakeholders in achieving a 95.9% ELA testlet completion and a 95.4% Math testlet completion. We highly value the feedback received from participating districts and commend your flexibility as we continue to iterate and pioneer this innovative assessment. For more information on the Completion Rates, please click here.
For more information, contact Tressa Graveley, Assessment Specialist.
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Montana Teacher of the Year Introduced at the Brawl of the Wild
Kevin Kicking Woman was introduced to Montana during the Brawl of the Wild on Saturday November 18. On November 17, Kevin was introduced to the Governor's Board of Education, a joint meeting of the Board of Public Education and the Board of Regents. Click here to listen as he shared his voice with the Board.
Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief Funds - ESSER
ESSER II critical dates:
The ESSER Team has been working with schools to help them process and meet all ESSER compliances as we enter into the final year of ESSER grant funding with ESSER III. ESSER III funds must be expended by September 30, 2024.
The state-wide ESSER allocation through October 31, 2023, is:
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For more information on ESSER please click here or contact Wendi Fawns at wendi.fawns@mt.gov.
2023 Purple Star Schools and Purple Star Champions Awards
The Montana Military Interstate Children’s Compact Commission (MIC3) and Superintendent Arntzen are proud to announce Montana’s Purple Star Schools and Purple Star Champions Awardees for 2023-2024.
Montana’s 2023-2024 Purple Star School Awardees are:
- Valley Christian School, Missoula, MT (renewal)
- Loy Elementary School, Great Falls, MT (renewal)
- North Middle School, Great Falls, MT (renewal)
- CMR High School, Great Falls, MT (renewal)
- Washington Middle School, Glendive, MT
The 2023- 2024 Purple Star Champion Awardees are:
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Nick Budeski, CMR High School Counselor, Great Falls, MT. Nick has been teaching for 14 years. He has served as a warehouse driver, an English and Resource teacher, a school within a school specialist, and a counselor. Nick takes great pride in serving military families and supporting military career exploration in his current role as a counselor at CMR High School. He has extensive connections in the community and works with every military branch in Great Falls to provide students opportunities for career exploration within the military. Nick oversees the CMR Student2Student (S2S) new student support club, which takes special care to help new military students transition into CMR.
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Jamie Williams, CMR High School Librarian and Instructional Coach, Great Falls, MT. Jamie has been a librarian in Great Falls Public Schools for 18 years at CMR. She also specializes as a part-time instructional coach. Jamie supports students, staff, and parents with technology needs, engagement strategies, online learning platforms, and research needs. She also engages with students through extracurricular activities like 4H and Leadership High School. Jamie takes great pride and goes out of her way to help coordinate activities with Malmstrom Air Force Base, specifically to support newly arrived military families and their students transition to CMR and be academically successful.
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Lisa Sapp, Malmstrom Air Force Base, School Liaison, Great Falls, MT. Lisa is a Department of the Air Force School Liaison for the 341st Missile Wing, Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana. As the only active-duty military base in the state, Sapp serves as the total force education navigator for approximately 10,000 military-connected students statewide. She is the primary point of contact as the base subject matter expert for highly mobile students in transition. Her position is crucial in identifying academic barriers and in developing real-time solutions that enhance educational opportunities with thriving local community and state-level partnerships.
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The Purple Star Award distinguishes Montana schools and individual champions who have displayed extraordinary commitment to supporting our military students and their families. To qualify as a Purple Star School, each school must meet specific designation criteria and be given support through the state and national Military Interstate Children’s Compact Commission to continue the strong support of our military-connected students and families. This is the fourth year MIC3 and OPI will be recognizing Montana’s military-friendly schools with the Purple Star School Award. This is the third year recognizing and awarding Montana Purple Star Champions.
The 2022-2023 Purple Star School Awardees were the Montana School for the Deaf and Blind, Great Falls High School, Chief Joseph Elementary School, Meadowlark Elementary School, and the Early Learning Family Center. The Purple Start Champions were Brian Holbein, Lt. Col (R), Michael Wonch, MSgt (R), and Col. Christopher Karns.
The Purple Star School designation lasts three years at which time the school is eligible for redesignation. These schools have gone above and beyond being military friendly, through a maintained commitment to serve their military students and continually honor the military family sacrifice.
State Lands Fund Public Schools
As one of five members of the Montana Land Board, State Superintendent Elsie Arntzen accepted $57.7 million on behalf of public schools from the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) at today’s Land Board meeting. Two separate checks were presented, $48,654,303 from the Common Schools Fund for public schools and $9,034,905 from the School Facility and Technology Fund.
This year’s $48.6 million equates to about $323 per student in our public schools. Agriculture leases, timber sales, wheat, barley, and hay, grazing, oil and gas, coal, and mineral revenues contribute to the Common School Fund. More details can be found in DNRC’s Trust Lands Management Review. The OPI also received $9 million associated with a riverbed rent settlement. During the upcoming biennium, these funds will be used to enhance the Debt Service Assistance program described in section § 20-9-367, MCA.
During Superintendent Arntzen’s time in office, the following distributions have been made available for the benefit of Montana’s public schools:
- 2017: $43.1 million
- 2018: $41.9 million
- 2019: $45.9 million
- 2020: $41.1 million
- 2021: $47.7 million
- 2022: $46.3 million
- 2023: $48.6 million
All state trust lands are managed by the DNRC Trust Lands Management Division and benefit public schools through the sale of timber, surface, and mineral resources. The Land Board members are the five constitutionally elected officials in the state -- the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, and the Commissioner of Securities and Insurance.
When Montana became a state in 1889, the Enabling Act set aside a vast number of lands that support Common Schools. Today, the State manages 5.2 million surface acres and 6.2 million mineral acres in state trust lands that benefit Montana’s Common Schools.
MT English Language Arts Standards Revision Task Force Applications Now Open
For more information about the ELA standards revision process, contact ELA Content Specialist Stephanie Swigart.
East Side Elementary in Livingston Featured in USDA Publication
Mountain Plains Region Celebrates School Meals
FNS Deputy Under Secretary Stacy Dean joins students at East Side Elementary in Livingston, Montana, during National School Lunch Week in October.
Late August and early fall are busy times for the Food and Nutrition Service and school districts across the country as students return to school. This season saw numerous grants and initiatives from USDA to support the success of school meals programs. The Community Eligibility Provision [lnks.gd] (CEP) expanded its access to allow up to 3,000 more school districts in high-need areas the option to serve breakfast and lunch to all students at no cost. In August, the Healthy Meals Incentive Initiative [lnks.gd] awarded $30 million in subgrants cross 44 states and the District of Columbia, reaching students in small and rural school districts. FNS leaders and staff visited schools around the country in October to celebrate National School Lunch Week and Farm to School Month. These are a few of the examples of the resources and activities FNS is providing to benefit the school meals programs. To see additional efforts, visit the Support for Schools Meals [lnks.gd] and School Meals [lnks.gd] webpages.
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Montana Association for Career and Technical Education
Congratulations to Montana Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) for receiving the 2023 Quality Association Standards (QAS) Award! Hats off to Executive Director, Mark Branger, the Montana ACTE Board of Directors, and all Montana ACTE members, teachers, and supporters for their dedication to provide quality programs for our state membership.
The mission of the Association for Career and Technical Education is to provide educational leadership in developing a competitive workforce.
The purpose of the Quality Association Standards (QAS) is to provide benchmarks for state associations to determine levels of performance and satisfactory service to their members and prospective members. QAS should be useful to states in evaluating their basic organization and whether their leadership is providing minimum, average or superior programs for the membership. It’s not intended to be a competition between states and/or to establish a “class system” of state associations, nor is it a system for rating the performance of a state’s executive director or volunteer leaders.
The hope of the QAS is to prompt states to challenge themselves to improve and maintain the very best possible organization and leadership for their members within the association’s means. ACTE is committed to assisting state leadership in reaching Association goals.
Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools
Great things are happening this year with Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools across the state—check out some of these highlights!
Sunnyside Elementary (Great Falls Public Schools) has implemented an inclusive Disc Golf Club. This inclusive club is made up of students of all grade levels and meets once a month from 3:30 to 4:00 pm. During this time, students form small groups and practice their frisbee golf skills at various stations on the playground. Teachers Megan Schaak and Natalie Bright monitor the stations and students, encourage students to support one another, to make new friends, and to have “FUN”! Thanks, Sunnyside, for all you do to promote inclusion!
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Hamilton High School recently held a Unified Volleyball scrimmage. Athletes and unified partners came together to share sports, friendship, and lots of fun! This event brought the community together (check out the fans in the stands) to support inclusion at Hamilton High School. Special thanks to Jen Carmody, UCS School Liaison at Hamilton High School, for organizing this great inclusive event!
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Not yet a Unified Champion School? Click here to complete the UCS Commitment Form and start the inclusion revolution in your school, district, and community! Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools® is a program for schools Pre-K through university that intentionally promotes meaningful social inclusion by bringing together students with and without intellectual disabilities to create accepting school environments utilizing three interconnected components: Special Olympics Unified Sports®, inclusive youth leadership, and whole school engagement.
For questions, contact Terri Norman, UCS Senior Director at tnorman@somt.org.
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Click the links below for important updates from OPI's units.
Accreditation & Educator Preparation
Achievement in Montana (AIM)
Assessment
Career, Technical and Adult Education
Coordinated School Health
Educator Licensure
Elementary & Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER)
Emergency Assistance to Non-Public Schools (EANS)
Gifted and Talented
Indian Education for All
Montana Alternative Student Testing (MAST)
Montana Autism Education Project
Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS)
School Finance
School Nutrition
Special Education
Standards, Instruction & Professional Learning
Traffic Education
Transformational Learning & Advanced Opportunities
Tribal Relations & Resiliency
Outside Opportunities
Governor's Youth Hunting Contest
To celebrate our hunting heritage in Montana, Governor Greg Gianforte in 2022 hosted the inaugural Youth Hunting Story Contest for Montana youth and apprentice hunters ages 10-17. Governor Gianforte selected ten winning hunters from hundreds of entries statewide.
Bringing the contest back for its second year, Governor Gianforte is now accepting entries for the 2023 Youth Hunting Story Contest. To enter the contest, hunters must submit a story of no more than 500 words and a photo from their 2023 hunt. Hunters must be a Montana resident and a licensed hunter or apprentice hunter between the ages of 10-17. Eligible entries include the harvest of any legal game, furbearer animals, or birds in Montana.
The deadline to enter the contest is Monday, November 27, 2023. The governor will select 10 hunters, five aged 10-13 and five aged 14-17, and announce the winners in mid-December. Winners will be invited to the Capitol to celebrate with the governor and receive their prizes in January of the new year.
Prize partners for the 2023 contest include Sitka, Stone Glacier, Kenetrek Boots, Vista Outdoor, J2 Taxidermy, and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.
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Tree-Plenish
Tree-Plenish [tree-plenish.org] is a youth-led 501(c)(3) non-profit that works with high school students across the country to help host tree-planting events in their communities. This past year, they worked with over 300 schools to plant more than 45,000 tree saplings across the country.
Tree-Plenish™ is looking to connect with middle and high schools that may be interested in hosting a Tree-Plenish event during the 2023-2024 school year. For more information, please click here.
Questions? Contact:
Brian O'Leary, Communications Director
The OPI is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation, require an alternate format, or have questions concerning accessibility, contact the OPI ADA Coordinator, 406-444-3161, opiada@mt.gov, Relay Service: 711.
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