Hi-Line Living: Educating in small Montana schools

Rural school houses have been a long-standing tradition in the north-central Montana, but as communities grew and transportation improved, they began to fade. Only a few of these school houses still are in operation, however, they have kept their common mission, similar to every other school, to provide the best education available to their students.

"I feel like I'm truly teaching," Gildford Colony School teacher Pauline Purri said. "... This environment makes it more fulfilling for me, because I feel like I'm teaching, not managing kids."

Hill County Superintendent of Schools Marie Deegan said the biggest benefits to having rural school houses in the area is giving people the ability to choose between larger schools or more individualized schools. She said the larger public schools do a fine job educating students and for many students they are the best choice but, sometimes, parents and students want or need some individualized instruction.

"It's sort of a family-like setting, so a lot of people feel comfortable in that," she said.

Giving people a choice is part of the reason it is important to continue rural school houses, and a number of rural school houses have a number of students outside of the school's district. The rural schools allow students from different areas to enroll students at schools that fit their needs.

Before becoming Hill County superintendent of schools, Deegan was a teacher at Havre High School, she said, adding that she never saw any noticeable difference between students who attended rural schools or students who attended Havre Public Schools.

"There is a period of adjustment, but there is a period of adjustment for the kids who come from Havre Middle School or St. Jude's school," she said. "It just happens. For the most part, kids are kids and they will rise to the level of expectation that you put out there for them. Kids just do what they need to do and they do what you ask of them, so you have to set the bar high."

Rural schools, a family feeling

Davey Elementary School has 13 students, six in kindergarten through second grade and seven in grades three through eight, Davey Elementary School Board Chair Fred Davey said. He added that the school has two teachers, Sandi Bitterman, who teachers grades three through eight, and Samantha Radabah, who teachers kindergarten through second grade.

Bitterman said that she was a student at Davey and, after having the experience of being a student at a rural school, grew up wanting to become a teacher at a rural school.

"If I was going to teach, I wanted to do it at a small school like this," she said.

She added that before she taught at Davey she taught at a rural school for a Hutterite colony.

She said attending Davey while growing up was a great experience and was something she wanted to share. She added that one of the reasons her parents enrolled her at Davey was because she was an only child, and they wanted her to have a feeling of having younger and older siblings. Rural school houses have much more of a community, family, aspect to them, she said.

For some students, the family feels rural schools helps them feel more comfortable while in the classroom, Bitterman said.

"They really start to blossom here," she said.

Radabah said that she did not attend a rural school growing up and didn't plan on becoming a school teacher at a rural school, but the family feel of the school is something she has noticed and appreciates.

She added that some students who attend Havre Public Schools struggle for a variety of reasons. Some students fall behind or feel overwhelmed and need more personal attention from teachers. She said that with larger class sizes students are not always confident asking teachers for help, but with rural schools, because of the small class sizes, teachers are able to provide students with more one-on-one attention or work in smaller groups to help students learn.

A number of students who attend Davey are students who were previously struggling at Havre Public School, but with the smaller classes, have been able to make great improvements, Radabah said. She added that she has seen her students self-confidence and self-identity greatly improved since enrolling at Davey.

Fred Davey said he has noticed since he became chair of the school's board, a number of the students who also struggled with other students while at Havre Public Schools, tend to not have problems with other students at Davey. He added that every student is different and, although some things have changed, children are still children.

Purri said that she has taught at two different rural Hutterite colony schools while she was living in South Dakota, and she prefers teaching at rural schools.

"I really like it because, with smaller class sizes, it's easier to spend time with each student," she said.

She added that she has taught at the Gildford school for a year, teaching grades three through eight, but has already gotten to know the personalities of her students and their families very well.

"We have that sense of community and family here at the school," she said.

"I feel that I don't have the problems you might see in other places, being that the students are from one community," she said.

Purri said that the students already know each other and have a kind of extended family relationship with one another. She said because of that relationship she, as the teacher, doesn't encounter a lot of the disciplinary problems other schools may experience. She added that the parents are also very interested in their children's education and are very supportive of them and the school.

What is teaching like at a rural school?

Gildford Colony School Board Chair Paul Stahl said that he grew up on the Gildford Colony and attended Gildford Colony School when he was growing up. Stahl added that the school has grown since he was younger, going from a one-room schoolhouse in a trailer to having a number of classrooms. He added that he also teaches the German class at the school and, as an educator and the chair, has seen his students progress year to year.

A great benefit to the students attending Gildford is that most of the students are from the Gildford Colony, he said, although Gildford Colony School is a public school and open to anyone outside of the district. He added that teachers at Gildford know the students and know the students' parents personally and are able to communicate with them.

He said that in the past, Gildford has had a number of students who did not live on the colony, but the children are treated just as anyone else and tend to mix well with the other students.

Stahl added that he only teaches German class, and, as an educator, he tried to put the students in smaller groups of four or five students and have them all start on the same chapter and page of the learning material. He said some students are faster and some students are slower, but the slower students tend to keep up with the others in their group and work harder so they do not fall behind in the material. He also encourages other students who have completed their material ahead of the rest of their group to help other students with completing the work.

It is important the students learn to help each other, he said.

Older students also tend to help the younger students after they have completed their work, he said.

It's easier to see when a student falls behind with such a small group, he added.

Stahl said that the teachers are able to do more for students because they can see where the student may be lacking or falling behind on a subject and give them more attention when needed. Every child is different and learns in different ways, and by having a smaller class size, teachers are able to better teach their students in the ways that are the best fit for them.

He added that because many of the students are from the colony, he is also able to see how they are after they graduate. Many of the students carry with them the qualities they learned while at school. He said that if students were hard workers in school and did good work, they are usually hard workers out of school and do good quality work when people give them a job. The same goes for students on the other end of the spectrum.

The school building itself is a good example of the work quality that has resulted from the school, he said. The school is a beautiful facility with many great amenities, he said, and has served the community well. He added that he and a number of other elders in the colony designed the school.

"The people who put the effort into this building, building it, I mean they wouldn't have that much knowledge without schooling," he said.

He added that the school house was constructed in 2010 and the school moved into the building in 2012. The school was originally located in the Gildford Colony church, before moving and expanding into a trailer in the mid-1980s, before moving to the new building in 2012.

Longevity and the future are important at Davey School too.

Fred Davey said that he wants every student who attends Davey School to leave with a good education and, since his great-grandfather started the school in 1906, the school has strived to provide a good education for their students.

Many things have changed over the 113 years since the school first opened its doors, he added, such as technology becoming more and more critical to students' education, but having good teachers have always been the biggest part.

"We've had good teachers here," he said.

Bitterman said that the relationship with the students and the casual atmosphere are always a key part to student success in rural schools. She said the students get the same education as any other student in any other school, but the ability to work in small groups, individually and through group learning - where the teacher teaches a subject to the entire classroom, regardless of grade - is a great benefit to the students.

She added that she is able to adapt every day and every year so she can better reach her students and make sure they are learning the information.

Her students also learn how to work independently, she said. Bitterman said that learning to be self motivated and independent is an important skill.

Radabah said that teaching so many grades she also has to deal with a large gap in the curriculum for one grade to the next, but all different grade levels need to meet the standards and it is her job, as a teacher, to find unique solutions.

The use of the internet is a critical piece of her and other teachers' classrooms, she said.

Gildford School pre-kindergarten through second grade teacher Tami Redinger said by teaching multiple grades at once she is able to see year to year where a student is lacking in knowledge about a subject and is able to better address any issues the following year.

"It's neat to see how they grow," she said.

She added that she is always trying new methods to teach her students to see what works best. She said that the curriculum has a large gap between first and second graders, but because she is teaching both of those grades she is able to better bridge the gap.

Students also learn to work independently, she said. When she breaks her students into small groups to teach individual lessons to each grade, the other grades are responsible for doing their own work. She added that if the students are wise with their time and manage their time they can get all of their homework done during the day.

She said that in her career in rural schools she also has noticed a number of her students progressing at a faster rate. The younger students would listen in to the older students' lessons and learn with them. She added that another benefit is that if a student is progressing faster, she is able to include and engage them in more advanced work, allowing them to continue learning.

Purri said that because of her class size she is able to engage her students in large projects, letting the lower grades to take part on the smaller parts of the project and her higher grades taking part on more of the complex parts.

She said that the Gildford school also has a good amount of technology available for students to use as well as provide the teachers with whatever materials they need to better teach their students.

Gildford also has a music and theater program, she said. She added that the students are preparing for a play written by Redinger and are tying lessons in a number of classes to the play to help give the students more hands-on learning.

She added that rural schools are able to do just as much as larger schools, it's just on a smaller scale and more personal.

"I really enjoy the small school environment and just the ability I have to spend individual time with my students," she said.