As the first breath of fall air blew into the Flathead Valley on Tuesday, the West Valley School District came to life.
Plastered with smiles and squeaky sneakers, kindergarten through eighth grade students streamed through the school doors, greeting old friends and new teachers. Shouts from parents of “Have fun!” and “Make good choices!” echoed across the parking lot. Some snapped first day of school pictures before sending their kids off to class.
Shaking off their summer slumber, teachers hung final decorations on their classroom doors, lining up nametags and sharpening the last of their pencils.
“We’re really excited, really hopeful for a positive school year,” Alesia Hamill, West Valley’s elementary principal, said.
As she headed into the building, fourth grader Montgomery told the Beacon she’s most excited to meet her teacher. Her favorite class is physical education.
“I really like sports,” she said.
For the first time in its history, the West Valley School District has enrolled more than 800 students, making it one of the largest elementary school districts in the state and pushing the boundaries of its infrastructure. While population growth is a familiar narrative in the Flathead Valley, its impacts have been particularly acute in West Valley, where hundreds of housing units have cropped up within school district lines in recent years.
“There’s so many changes in the school,” Anna Porter, the school’s elementary counselor, said. “We’re all excited to see how everything fits together.”
“The major work of the last two weeks has been getting all of the new students registered,” District Secretary Brooke Ells said, standing in the school’s main office and donning a West Valley jacket.
Over in the cafeteria, Roleen Anderson, who calls herself the “lunch lady,” prepared for the day.
During the summer, Anderson works as a concessioner at Glacier Range Riders games. She said she’s happy to be back at West Valley, where her lunchtime patrons are excited to see her.
“I love the kiddos,” she said. “They get so excited when they see me. They say, ‘That’s the lunch lady!’”
Anderson reported that she’s not met with the same excitement at the minor league baseball stadium.
Voters in West Valley narrowly passed a general fund and a technology levy in May, following a targeted campaign by the district to garner support for the proposals. The general fund levy will allow the district to retain classroom teachers and support staff that would otherwise face layoffs, as well as repair and replace failing heating and HVAC units. The technology levy will fund software fees for standardized testing, cybersecurity tools, IT support contracts and computers.
West Valley Superintendent Richard Gross said the levies will help address some — but not all — of the demands a rising student population brings.
Students across the Flathead Valley will be heading back to school this week.