Trying to catch Derek Larson, Superintendent of St. Regis Schools, is difficult. No, impossible, but for good reasons because everything in the school district is going splendidly, at the speed of light so far this school year.

“We are down slightly under 180 students this year, which is a drop of about 15 from where we ended last year, but know that we have at least a few more students incoming,” he reports.

“We already have some students set up to get some workforce licensure and certificates with our fifth day opportunities provided through some state and federal grants geared toward career and trade opportunities. This and expanding our partnerships for dual enrollment to include Missoula College and MonTech in addition to our longstanding relationship with Flathead Valley Community College.”

For students who are questioning if a university degree is what they want or need, trade schools have become more popular recently. And trade school curriculums have vastly increased for more specialized fields.

Larson continues, “On site, we are developing programing for students to look into ag mechanics training and other industrial arts trade certificates in addition to our OSHA training. Some of the program’s students will be involved in include Waste Water Management, EMT training, and ServSafe Food Handler training. The GearUp program will provide a place for students that need some extra time to accomplish their schoolwork onsite and the 21st Century program will be providing educational programming for K-6th grade students on Fridays.”

The proof is in the pudding that the efforts of teachers, administration and students is paying off when Larson can boast that many seniors at St. Regis are graduating from high school with Associates degrees.

On August 26, the St. Regis School Homecoming was combined with Back to School Night and entertainment.

“In the seven years that I have been principal, I have never seen a crowd like we had that evening,” smiles Shaun Ball. “It's been a goal of ours to build community support and involvement and it was so nice to see it come to pass. It was so wonderful, that we even had The Travelers mention that St. Regis School was the highlight of their trip!”

The Travelers are a troupe that happened to witness the festivities and the following is their letter Ball referred to:

"We are "The Travelers" and we live in Riverton, Utah. We travel in an RV and have stayed in the beautiful town of St Regis on three or four occasions. We have logged approximately 100,000 miles on various RVs throughout our retired years and, as you can imagine have been in many towns and RV parks. The town of St Regis is one of our top 3.

On Friday the 26th of August we were sitting in the restaurant next to the ConocoPhillips eating. When much to our delight came a parade as beautiful and genuine as we have ever witnessed. Perhaps possibly the shortest parade we have ever watched but that took nothing away from the spirit and purpose of the event. We are so grateful for witnessing this event. We believe we saw America the Beautiful in action. We later could not resist going to the game. The story behind the number of players, the rivalry between St Regis and Superior, the 8-on-8 play just added to the beauty of our experience.

But the all-out effort of the player and the support were equally impressive. In our hearts, there was not a losing team that night. The team, the school, and the town were all winners. And we are the biggest winners of all. We will never forget that afternoon and evening. Thank you, the students, the parents, and the town for being the highlight of our entire trip.

Sincerely, "The Travelers" of Riverton, Utah"

“I also want to mention how well our new staff is fitting in,” Ball added. “They have positive attitudes, are competent and what they do, and are willing to go above and beyond for our students.

"Our new staff include Linda Phillips (Business), Brian Grosenbaug (English), Anna Boshka (Title), Brandon Iverson (Math), Jered Wardle (custodian), Joni Taylor (para), Maria Franken (para) and Kelsey Clark (teacher/para).”

The website is loaded with information for students, parents and new residents to the community who are sincerely invited to attend events. www.stregisschool.org