As Amanda Cyr completes her first year as the Alberton School Principal/Superintendent, her peers in western Montana have recognized her achievements and last Thursday, an awards presentation took place in the school gymnasium.

Les Meyer, the superintendent of Frenchtown Schools, was on hand and very pleased to be a part of the celebration. 

“We’ve all known Mandy since she was at Clinton (School District) and familiar with the work that she had done there, and now here, and felt this was aa nice opportunity for her to be recognized.” 

Jim Howard is the superintendent at Bonner School and said, “Bonner and Clinton are neighbors, so I got to know Mrs. Cyr over the years watching her leadership there. She’s a friend and just someone that I have a lot of respect for leading that school and then to come to Alberton and in one year make a significant impact in a positive way. Our association appreciates her role in leading our group and this is an appropriate time for her to be acknowledged.” 

The group Howard referred to is the Western MASS (Montana Association of School Superintendents) where Cyr is the current president. 

“She does a fantastic job of keeping us all in line,” he told the student body that was gathered for the presentation.

When Cyr became the principal and superintendent at the end of the 2025 school year, both Alberton middle and high schools were ranked at the lowest level for state testing. So low that they were under threat of being taken over by the state. By working with students, staff and parents, the scores did a 180-degree reversal and became the highest. 

She was recognized as the Western Montana School Superintendent of the Year. 

“This award says that the work is paying off and it just makes me proud of where we’re going,” Cyr told the packed gymnasium.  

She credits the work of so many but said it’s the students themselves that came together to support each other and the school.

From left, Amanda Cyr’s sister-in-law, Heather Cheff. Her sister, Terri Cheff. Amanda Cyr, Alberton School Principal/Superintendent. Cyr’s mother, Jennifer McCall, and her stepfather Earl McCall, attended the ceremony. (Monte Turner/Mineral Independent)

Jim Howard (left), Superintendent of Bonner Schools and Les Meyer, the Superintendent of Frenchtown Schools, Presented Amanda Cyr, the principal/Superintendent of Alberton School with the Western Montana School Superintendent of the Year award last Thursday. (Monte Turner/Mineral Independent)