SANDPOINT — Students who attend small schools might say the staff know them “far too well.”

In fact, that is exactly what the kids at Clark Fork Junior/Senior High School say, according to CFHS Principal Phil Kemink.

“You can not duplicate a small school experience,” Kemink told Lake Pend Oreille School District officials during last week’s board meeting. “... That is something that is very special about our school.”

CFHS was the first in a series of presentations by principals of LPOSD schools. Shawn Woodward, LPOSD superintendent, said the presentations will be held at district board meetings through May.

Each principal is tasked with answering two questions: What is unique about your school? What strategies are taking place this year that are different that the school is instituting to get more students learning more?

“So it’s all about improvement and what are they proud of,” Woodward said.

Kemink answered the first question with the comments about the small school experience, adding that it comes with positives and negatives.

As far as what they are proud of at CFHS, he said, there were several things. As for ACT scores, he said, CFHS was three points ahead of the state and four point ahead of the national average. The school’s SAT average, while they were below the national average, they were ahead of the state average, he said.

“That’s something, as far as I’m concerned, to be very, very proud of, because we are one of those schools that is helping to elevate the state average,” Kemink said.

As for its mastery-based education, which was implemented at CFHS five years ago, Kemink said the school has received around $210,000 in mastery funds. That money has allowed them to purchase software programs, classroom furniture, a “ton” of professional development and more. Every staff member has spent at least one session in Boise each year, he said.

The experiential learning track program has been gaining steam as Kemink said he receives phone calls from other schools all the time expressing interest in the program.

“Most of the schools in the state are small, and everybody’s trying to figure out ways to meet the kids’ needs that are not purely your physics, your chemistry, your math classes — how do you include electives when there is just not enough staff to go around. So our track program has been very successful and it’s being duplicated around the state, which is very nice to hear.”

This year, he said, they have decreased track days to increase academic support, he said. The program was designed to provide students with experience that is “not quite academic,” he said, but that ties real-world experience in with what they are learning in school. The program still consists of art, technology, independent, outdoor and junior high tracks, as well as a new parks and recreation track, Kemink said. He is hoping to implement a music and/or choir program in the future.

Finally, Kemink said, the school has also moved back to a block schedule after receiving iSAT results in June. The previous schedule, he said, was not sufficient in meeting the kids’ needs academically, particularly in areas such as math where many of the kids were struggling.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.