Kendal Baldwin, the music teacher at St. Ignatius Middle and High School for the past 21 years, has been selected as the new superintendent of the Arlee School District. 

Baldwin earned her bachelor's in music education from the University of Montana and a master's in music education from Kent State University in Ohio. She also completed her K-12 principal and superintendent endorsements at UM. 

Her inspiration to step into this role comes from watching her father, Jim Baldwin, who has worked in administration for the past 35 years and is currently the superintendent at Charlo School District.

“I'm following in his footsteps,” Baldwin said.

Baldwin said she still has much to learn as she steps into this role, but she knows she has a strong support system, including her father, who has "seen it all” in his 50 years in education. She said leadership has always come naturally to her, and as a former music director who taught band, choir and piano at St. Ignatius, she’s not afraid of getting up in front of people. 

Baldwin found a love for music at a young age, singing her first solo at age three. She always knew she wanted to be a music teacher, and that idea “never really wavered.” She explained that the path to becoming a music educator made sense, given that her father was already in education, and she joked that back in the 80s, a musician couldn’t just become famous on YouTube. 

“I'm just excited to take all of the things that I learned as a teacher, and I really want to be super supportive of my staff coming in right out of the classroom,” Baldwin said. 

Baldwin is also excited to remain on the reservation and continue working with the people and culture she’s been part of for the past 21 years. She noted that throughout her career, she’s worked with or connected with many staff members currently at Arlee School District.

Her other goals as she starts at Arlee include increasing school pride and unity. She plans to be highly visible in the community and aims to be an administrator students and parents feel comfortable talking to. Baldwin explained that the school is the community’s, not hers, and that she’s there to support the school. 

She explained that the hardest part of this change is leaving her students, who thrived on fine arts and the impact music had on their lives. Baldwin is “devastated” that Arlee currently lacks a music program, but she hopes to bring a musical elementary Christmas program to the community. 

According to previous Leader reporting, Arlee School District has faced budget constraints due to declining enrollment, and the school board discussed consolidating the middle and elementary schools into a K-8 building. Although the board voted against the consolidation, former Superintendent Cory Beckham stated that the district has had to reduce both classified and certified staff positions. 

Beckham said during the consolidation discussion that if the school remains underfunded, it will lose great teachers.

The Leader asked Baldwin how she intends to navigate these budget-challenging and staffing-cut discussions, and she said that, as a new administrator, the last thing she wants to do is make any cuts. Baldwin explained that her priority this year is to learn and live the system. She plans to see how it all works and assess whether there is a way they can make the budget function better. 

Baldwin said every decision will focus on what is best for the students and what has the least impact on them.

“We don't want to have to lose staff members,” she said. “Our kids are the most important part of the school, so we want to make sure that we're giving them the best education possible.”

Beckham submitted his resignation to the district in March, according to previous Leader reporting. He will be joining the Missoula School District in an administrative position.