There are any number of career paths that might lead to running a private school in Northwest Montana, but Jeremy Marsh acknowledges his is “nontraditional.”
His resume includes a law degree and advanced military law degree; 21 years as a U.S. Air Force officer; multiple attorney roles for the Air Force as well as positions in organizational and crisis management, including chief of international law heading up a 1,300-person evacuation from Turkey; flight commander; author or coauthor of 17 scholarly works; vice chair and associate professor at the U.S. Army JAG School; and deputy department head and senior military faculty at the Air Force Academy.
Yet, he’s found that his decidedly diverse and distinguished professional background actually aligns perfectly with his new job as head of school at Stillwater Christian School in Kalispell.
The words listed in his curriculum vitae’s “interests” section provide clarifying context: “family, church, Christian education, athletics, reading, music.” Marsh’s four kids attend the school he now leads.
“What I want for my kids is what I had the benefit of: an excellent education from a Christian view, one that teaches the values that my wife and I and other Christian families hold dear,” he said from his new office last week.
Marsh added that his years on the faculty and in leadership at the Air Force Academy resonated deeply with him.
“I loved being in an educational environment,” he said. “As my military career was coming to an end, I saw that I was more interested in being in an educational and leadership environment than I was in practicing law.”
Marsh is in his first semester as head of school at Stillwater this summer, replacing Dan Makowski, who was in the position for 22 years. Marsh is the fourth head of school since Stillwater’s inception as Flathead Valley Christian School in 1980. The school changed its name to Stillwater in 2004.
He takes over what is believed to be the biggest K-12 private school in Montana, and the only K-12 private school in the Flathead Valley. Stillwater has a record enrollment this year with 332 students — 371 counting preschool. It underwent two major additions in 2015 and 2017.
Marsh has wasted no time looking for ways to improve what he considers an already superb Christian educational institution. He is particularly excited about the school’s strategic plan called SCS21, which has outlined initiatives and goals based on months of meetings by seven committees consisting of school board members, parents, alumni, faculty, staff and students.
Marsh said the strategic plan will help the school flourish into the future and grow alongside its community. He notes that the school’s master plan identifies the potential for 600 students to be housed on the 13-acre campus.
“With the Flathead Valley growing in population, I think there’s certainly room to grow in numbers and impact,” he said. “That’s my goal and vision.”
One area of focus is high school retention. Enrollment numbers are proportionally higher at the lower grade levels, as a number of students entering high school age annually head to the public schools, which provide different opportunities, such as football. Marsh also said some students are intimidated by Stillwater’s rigorous academic requirements, which include every student completing a senior thesis.
While some level of attrition might be expected no matter what, Marsh wants to make sure the high school is meeting the needs of its students as best as possible. He also said there are specific challenges related to the school’s high-expectation, tight-knit culture, including a collective compulsion to participate in every activity: leadership, band, volleyball, soccer, basketball.
“At a school like this, they can do it all, and they feel a pressure to do it all,” Marsh said. “We’re trying to figure that out — help kids have a healthy balance in their lives.”
Marsh is happy to be part of that mission, and he’s happy to follow in the footsteps of his father, a teacher and school administer, who planted the seeds of leadership at a young age.
“Helping the kids flourish is what I’m working toward and where my heart and desire is,” Marsh said. “That’s why we’re all here.”