Grant proved valuable for RSD
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RONAN – Back in 2008, the Ronan School District was the proud recipient of the Safe Schools and Healthy Students Initiative, a competitive, four-year grant that has helped the district implement several new programs to create a better environment for their students. The program is so competitive, that currently only two school districts in Montana are SS HS grantees. There have been fewer than 300 of these grants awarded nationwide since 1999.
The grant initiative is an unusual collaboration by three federal entities: the Department of Education, Department of Justice, and the Department of Health and Human Services. According to SS HS Project Director Nick Bejarano, the combination of these three departments causes the grant to span a broader spectrum of goals than many others.
According to Bejarano, the district received the grant based on a strong grant application that outlined the unique combination of challenges that Ronan students face, and proposed a strong array of activities specifically intended to address those changes.
“We’ve implemented several programs since the start of the grant,” Bejarano said. “It funds several personnel who work for the sake of our students, and are important for the day-to-day success that our students achieve.”
According to Bejarano, the school has also received help from the community, such as juvenile probation, the Lake County Sheriff, Western Montana Mental Health Center, and Flathead Early Childhood Services/Head Start.
Since 2008, Bejarano says Ronan School District has seen a 10 percent overall decrease in alcohol used among students, and an increase in counseling services provided at school.
Another benefit from the program for area children is the early childhood programming piece. This is in part because the school gets national data and research that shows the importance of early childhood education for students’ success.
“Through a tremendous partnership with Head Start, we have nearly 50 preschool students enrolled this year and last year. Many of these students wouldn’t have otherwise received any classroom experience to prepare them for kindergarten.”
This added experience has shown positive growth in each of the preschool children in the past two years, Bejarano said. He added that in the past two years they have shown growth in their academic and classroom readiness, some by 100 percent.
“In other words, some of our students have doubled their scores on our standardized assessments,” he noted. “What that means is after a year of preschool, these students are more prepared for a structured classroom environment.”
Other positive impacts from the grant are increased safety, social and emotional support, and a positive environment and school culture for students.
“The Montana Behavioral Initiative is a framework of positive behavioral supports that we’ve worked hard at putting in place,” Bejarano said. “MBI has taken hold in the schools, among the staff and students, and has improved positive school climate.”
The same is true for the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, he added, as the program continues to take hold among staff and students, it improves the school environment for bullying victims and potential victims, while increasing accountability for those who choose to engage in bullying behavior.
RSD is currently in its fourth and final year of the grant period, but Bejarano said many of the activities that have come from the grant will continue after the Safe Schools and Healthy Students grant ends.
“We’re looking for ways to continue other activities and services that were dependent on SS HS funding, through new sources of funding.”
“I want to deeply thank everyone who has been involved,” Bejarano added. “And everyone who works for our kids every day.”
