• Category 1

    Selected in 2018

  • Grades: pre k - 12
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 200
    Student Enrollment: 116
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 0.8%
    White/Caucasian: 87.2%
    Hispanic: 0%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 0%
    Native American: 12%
    Other: 0%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:8
    % Reduced Lunch: 30%
    % ELL Learners: 0%
    Founded: 1927
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Jane Suberg
  • CONTACT:
    160 West Street South
    Highwood, MT 59450
    406-733-2081
    jsuberg@highwood.k12.mt.us
Highwood Middle School
Highwood, MT
Student Council connects the school and community more than any other single activity.
Describe the most successful activity your school has initiated to strengthen ties to your community.
The Student Council is an organization whose primary purpose is serving students, but serving the local community is also at the core of its mission. In a small town, the school is the absolute focal point of the community. For years, Student Council has searched for ways to strengthen ties between the school and community. Before a food bank existed in our small town, the Student Council provided food boxes to families during the holidays. Our annual Remembrance Tree project allows residents to honor loved ones with bulbs on Christmas trees displayed in front of the school from November to January. When people see the lighted bulbs of their loved ones during the holidays, they appreciate the outreach from the school. Veteran’s Day programs and Senior Citizen Proms are additional projects that have strengthened ties to the community. Student Council connects the school and community more than any other single activity.

Describe your philosophy of school change or improvement.
Change only occurs when major stakeholders support it, so we invite them to be part of the change process. We know from experience that people are far more likely to support the initiatives they help create. The administration at Highwood School believes that the stakeholders who serve as the best change agents are teachers. They are in the trenches every day and have a better grasp of the needs of our student population than anyone. Empowering teachers to lead the improvement process creates far more support for change than when administrators lead the process from the top down. Build a team of stakeholders you trust, support them, and get out of the way.

Communication is key to the successful implementation of change. People must understand initiatives in order to support them, so it is our responsibility to disseminate accurate information in a timely fashion. We save ourselves a lot of anguish by keeping stakeholders informed.
What is the single most important factor in the success of your school that others could replicate?
The ability of our small K-12 school to intervene quickly when students are struggling definitely has a positive effect on our school’s success. We pride ourselves in the fact that no one falls through the cracks. But more important is our commitment to building meaningful relationships with our students. The staff strives to get to know their students, honor their backgrounds, and build trusting relationships with them. It is our expectation that every student who walks through our doors forms meaningful connections with one or more staff members.

The factor that schools of any size can replicate is a commitment to building positive, authentic relationships with students. Larger numbers make it more challenging, no doubt, but every student deserves to have at least one adult in the schoolhouse who serves as his or her advocate. As positive relationships and connectedness increase in our schools, so does the level of achievement.
Describe the program or initiative that has had the greatest positive effect on student achievement, including closing achievement or opportunity gaps, if applicable.
The program that has had the greatest positive effect on student achievement is Accelerated Reader. AR does not replace the reading curriculum but is used to supplement the curriculum as a management tool. AR was introduced in the middle school nearly twenty years ago. A few years later, AR was being used district wide and has since become a part of the school culture. Students and parents both know that students are expected to read AR books, take AR tests, and earn AR points. Not only do most of our students meet their quarterly goals, many go beyond them to earn honors goals. And when they do, we celebrate! Reading is the most celebrated skill at Highwood School.

Parent involvement and program fidelity have been key factors to the success of the AR program. Fidelity to the program must be maintained in order to experience the greatest possible outcome. There are few programs that have been implemented at Highwood School that have stood the test of time like AR has.


Explain how ESEA federal funds are used to support your improvement efforts.
Highwood School uses a substantial part of its ESEA federal funds to support its Pre-K program. Because of the tremendous brain growth in children by age five, the preschool years are particularly important for teaching school readiness skills. Highwood is a small, rural community with no local pre-school opportunities, so we believe it is critical to invest in the early education (Pre-K) of our children in order to increase their chances for academic achievement and overall success in school. Students who have attended our Pre-K program are now entering kindergarten with stronger social, emotional, and academic skills.

Describe how data is used to improve student achievement and inform decision making.
A variety of data is used to improve student achievement and inform decision making at Highwood School. The annual state-mandated standardized tests (Criterion-Referenced Tests for science and Smarter Balanced Assessments for reading and math), together with a variety of course-specific assessments at the classroom level, provide us with the information needed to make instructional changes at the district level.

The staff analyzes the assessment data to determine where there are weaknesses in specific skill areas of our students. Together we determine the best course of action to improve those skills. The best course of action may include purchasing new textbooks, providing additional resources to teachers, improving instructional strategies, and providing additional instructional support for students with skill deficiencies.


Describe your school culture and explain changes you’ve taken to improve it.
Highwood School places a top priority on building and maintaining meaningful relationships at all levels. Our experience shows that strong relationships are what both students and staff need most to experience success in the school setting.

Highwood School also has a culture of high expectations. Tradition of Excellence was added as a tagline to our mission statement years ago. Stakeholders agreed that excellence is achieved by establishing high expectations in achievement, character, and instruction.

Highwood Strong was added as a school-wide theme 12 years ago as a way for students to better understand and embrace the expectation of excellence. Students related to the Live Strong concept that was so popular at the time, so they immediately understood what Highwood Strong meant. From day one of pre-k, students are taught what it means to be Highwood Strong, and they display their solidarity every Friday by wearing their Highwood Strong t-shirts.


Stats
  • Category 1

    Selected in 2018

  • Grades: pre k - 12
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 200
    Student Enrollment: 116
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 0.8%
    White/Caucasian: 87.2%
    Hispanic: 0%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 0%
    Native American: 12%
    Other: 0%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:8
    % Reduced Lunch: 30%
    % ELL Learners: 0%
    Founded: 1927
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Jane Suberg
  • CONTACT:
    160 West Street South
    Highwood, MT 59450
    406-733-2081
    jsuberg@highwood.k12.mt.us