• Category 3

    Selected in 2021

  • Grades: 9 - 12
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 5,800
    Student Enrollment: 332
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 0.3%
    White/Caucasian: 91.9%
    Hispanic: 2.5%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 1.4%
    Native American: 3%
    Other: 0.9%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:15
    % Reduced Lunch: 28.4%
    % ELL Learners: 0.3%
    Founded: 1971
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Tim Majerus
  • CONTACT:
    1001 Casino Creek Drive
    Lewistown, MT 59457
    406-535-2321
    tmajerus@lewistown.k12.mt.us
Fergus High School
Lewistown, MT
Education is viewed as a mentoring relationship instead of a delivery process."
1. Tell us about your school’s success.
Montana’s Office of Public Instruction selected Fergus High as a distinguished school for our increased graduation rate from 2019 to 2021, in that time period we went from 87% to 96% of our students graduating. What makes this number even more amazing is that it occurred during the school closures and inconsistencies in educational delivery during a pandemic.
2. Talk about the greatest contributing factor(s) that promoted positive change in your school.
Fergus High’s success has come from an amazing group of students and a staff with a genuine interest in seeing them succeed. We work hard to establish positive relationships on a daily basis in our classrooms and through an advisory period. Having established rapport with students leading up to mandated school closures helped facilitate a smooth transition into distance learning and eventually, our hybrid instruction. A sense of belonging is a common theme to everyday life at Fergus High School. This sense of belonging comes from treating students with respect and allowing them to have a constructive voice in their education.
We encourage mutual respect between students and their peers and between students and their teachers. Education is viewed as a mentoring relationship instead of a delivery process.
3. How has ESEA funding supported the school's success?
Fergus High School maintains a student/teacher ratio around 15 to 1. Staffing is just one area in which ESEA funding has supported our success. In recent years we have used staffing to change our Title English classes from a modification of the regular curriculum to assessing and remediating according to student needs.
4. What professional development activities were used to improve teaching and learning?
Several years ago our staff was trained in Trauma-Informed schools. This knowledge has helped create a shared understanding among staff about the impact of trauma and adversity on students. During the pandemic we included professional development Incorporating mental health awareness & interventions into our MTSS framework. This awareness included self-care for staff to help manage the increased workload and additional emotional challenges brought on by the pandemic.
One of the greatest methods of staff development, especially in a rural area of Montana, is having teachers helping teachers. As we entered the mandated closure in the Spring of 2019, our staff spent two days of professional development sharing their use of Google Classroom, Google Meet, and programs to record their instructions. On the third day of the school closure students had their assigned Chromebooks and instruction resumed. An unexpected outcome from this was an increased sense of community among the staff.
5. Talk about the cultural shift leading up to your school's success.
Fergus High’s success has come from an amazing group of students and a staff with a genuine interest in seeing them succeed. The MTSS framework helps guide instruction and create a positive school environment. By creating positive relationships prior to mandated school closures in 2019, helped facilitate a smooth transition into distance learning, then a hybrid model, and eventually back to full time instruction.
A sense of belonging is an important part of everyday life at FHS. We use the Quaglia Institute Student Voice Survey as one method of allowing students’ voices to be heard. Staff and students review the survey data to identify and discuss our successes and weaknesses. Each spring student council conducts a workshop to provide feedback and suggest ideas for improvements. One outcome has been the student council recognition assemblies at the end of each quarter. These student led assemblies recognize students and staff for their accomplishments both in and outside of school.
6. How has community involvement strengthened your success?
The positive environment we strive to create within the school extends to the parents/guardians and to the greater community. Making families and the community feel comfortable with the school and staff is important to us. Oftentimes the students who struggle the most have parents/guardians who also struggled and are hesitant to get involved. Our goal is to recognize the importance of family involvement in a child's education and to ease their concerns by communicating with them as a colleague working towards a common goal.
Our community sees the value of a quality educational system and has been extremely supportive. A number of student organizations work together with outside agencies to help improve our community. We also bring community members in to speak in our classrooms and, during our advisory time, present at our Career Talks for students. Most importantly, our community has supported our students and staff both in our good times and in difficult times.
Stats
  • Category 3

    Selected in 2021

  • Grades: 9 - 12
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 5,800
    Student Enrollment: 332
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 0.3%
    White/Caucasian: 91.9%
    Hispanic: 2.5%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 1.4%
    Native American: 3%
    Other: 0.9%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:15
    % Reduced Lunch: 28.4%
    % ELL Learners: 0.3%
    Founded: 1971
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Tim Majerus
  • CONTACT:
    1001 Casino Creek Drive
    Lewistown, MT 59457
    406-535-2321
    tmajerus@lewistown.k12.mt.us