St. Ignatius Schools start classes next week with a significant increase in enrollment of more than 100 new students. 

Superintendent Jason Sargent said enrollment has gone from 380 students last year to 483 as of Aug. 18. But they are still enrolling so numbers could continue to increase.  

“So, we’ve had a big jump from last year to this year in terms of numbers at St. Ignatius School District 28,” Sargent said.  

He explained that this year they are fully staffed but did lose some federal Title I funding which supports a Title 1 teacher’s salary. Title I teachers give extra academic support to at-risk students, often in subjects such as reading or math. Sargent said the district lost between $40,000 and $50,000, just enough to lose one Title I teacher.  

“We don't have as many title teachers this year as we did last year. But other than that, everything will remain the same,” Sargent said. “It used to be very difficult to find math, science and special-ed teachers and now it's hard to find every teacher needed.”  

“It has been a struggle,” he added. "Not as many teachers out there (anymore).” 

The district office has moved across the street and the staff has repurposed the former administrative area into a career-learning space for students in the high school and middle school building. Sargent said they have added an office for career planning. This includes a career and college counselor and space for students to work on scholarships, college applications and career planning. 

A priority this year for St. Ignatius Schools is to increase their students' academic achievement. Sargent said test scores were consistent with the state average but since the pandemic, achievement levels have dropped considerably.  

“The remote (learning) did not work well for our students at all. So, our goal is to get back to the state average where we were before Covid,” Sargent said. “Direct instruction is better. We can say without a doubt, given the data, that remote for our students did not work.”  

Sargent said there have been some policy changes for K-12 Montana schools such as the no-cell-phone policy in the classroom. But he said these changes don’t affect St. Ignatius Schools because they already had a policy restricting cell phones. 

Sargent also explained that they have yet to write any policy directly around the use of artificial intelligence, but teachers are addressing AI as a tool that can be used to assist in research or on other projects when allowed.  

“Like any tool, teach it to be used responsibility and the kids will understand that,” Sargent said. “You just have to communicate when it’s appropriate.”