Heritage Academy, a hybrid private and home school program, expands
HILARY MATHESON | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 10 months AGO
Students attend class in a new portable classroom at Heritage Academy in Evergreen. (Photo provided)
EDUCATION REPORTER Hilary Matheson covers education for the Daily Inter Lake. Her reporting focuses on schools, students, and the policies that shape public education across Northwest Montana. Matheson regularly reports on school boards, district decisions and issues affecting teachers and families. Her work examines how funding, enrollment and state policy influence local school systems. She helps readers understand how education decisions affect students and communities throughout the region. IMPACT: Hilary’s work provides transparency and insight into the schools that serve thousands of local families. | May 10, 2024 12:00 AM
Heritage Academy in Evergreen has added a portable classroom to meet projected enrollment growth.
Located on East Evergreen Drive, Heritage Academy uses a 20,000-square-foot building with 14 classrooms. The portable classroom can accommodate 48 students and was funded in part by a $75,000 Gianforte Family Foundation grant.
Heritage Academy, a University-Model School, blends on-site classical Christian education with home schooling for kindergarten through 12th-grade students. The classical approach to learning is based on a liberal arts education — emphasizing history, literature, art and language with a focus on developing critical thinking, logic, reasoning and speaking skills across subjects.
The private program, which launched as a supplementary homeschool group in 2010 with 18 botany students, according to www.heritageacademykalispell.org, has a current enrollment of 229 full-time and part-time students.
With enrollment open for the 2024-25 school year, the academy anticipates increasing by 41 students, according to a press release.
Heritage Academy employs two full-time and 45 part-time staff who teach subjects such as art, Bible, chemistry, choir, English, history, Latin, math, P.E., science and Spanish. Classes are held Tuesdays and Thursdays. A standalone Conservatory of the Arts program is offered on Wednesdays.
Families also serve four hours a week at the campus to minimize operating costs.
“The school provides the best aspects of at-home instruction and traditional classroom learning, with parents involved in their children’s education and able to impart their own faith and values,” said Community and Development Director Josh Lancaster. “Other advantages include flexible scheduling and the ability to customize instruction to each student’s needs.”
Lancaster also noted the academy’s mission is “to partner with families to cultivate the souls of their children so they grow in wisdom and virtue as they seek to love God and others.”
Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or [email protected].
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