St. Ignatius Schools bring home awards

Last week was a big week for St. Ignatius Schools, as the district brought home three awards from various agencies that measure school performance. 

Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau honored five schools for improving graduation rates under the state program Graduation Matters Montana. 

St. Ignatius Schools received the Seventh Generation Award at the banquet in recognition of making substantial improvements in graduation rates. 

Since 2013, St. Ignatius Schools have increased their completion rate from 78 percent to 87 percent. Additionally its 2015 American Indian student graduation rate was 12 points above the state rate at 78 percent.

Juneau’s office also noted that in fall 2015 the middle school reported that it had closed the educational achievement gap between native and non-native students who took the Measure of Academic Progress exam.

Superintendent Jason Sargent said that the award was the reflection of hard work put in by staff and students. In the past four years, administrators really began to track data measuring student and staff performance and implement policies to improve the numbers, Sargent said. 

“I can again say what I have been saying for years: that we have outstanding teachers and we’ve got outstanding students who are working hard to make our school the best place to be,” Sargent said. “We are super-proud. Things are really going well.” 

In addition to the award from Juneau’s office, the district also received the Rilla Award last week from Silverback Learning Solutions, a Boise-based company that focuses on student improvement. The Rilla Award annual award is given each year to those educators who create a plan that focuses on improvement in student achievement. 

The district also became the first school on a tribal reservation in Montana to get a “Gold” rating in all schools from the  Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports initiative. “Gold” is the highest rating a school can receive. The state-backed initiative aims to create an environment “where students can learn and practice positive interpersonal, cross-cultural, and citizenship skills.”