Swan River Principal Hopes to Marry Tradition With Future-Planning in His Role

Josh Lee, the new principal with superintendent duties at Swan River, grew up surrounded by educators.

His mother and two grandmothers were teachers. His 14-year career in the field is in part a byproduct of their influence, he said.

Lee started off that career teaching health, P.E. and coaching students in sports. His pathway to leading a rural school district in the Flathead Valley began in Minnesota, where he grew up. Lee previously held a position at a district in central Minnesota as an athletic director and dean of students.

Lee found his way to the Flathead Valley thanks to a desire to move closer to family. His wife grew up in the area and they visited every summer. Between the draw of family and the job opening at Swan River, the move was a “pretty easy decision.”

His post at Swan River is his first as a head administrator. For Lee, it’s a learning experience: learning a new place and learning a new role.

“It’s going to be a lot of learning and listening this year,” Lee said. “Then we can keep moving forward in the years to come, but I’m excited to take the year to learn more about Swan River and the traditions and histories that come along with it, because it is history and tradition rich.”

For Lee, three priorities take top billing: supporting staff and championing teacher retention; building relationships within his new community; and identifying areas for growth within the school.

Lee has already begun taking steps to build relationships, both within the district and outside of it. He met with his entire staff one-on-one to learn about them and the district. Lee has also plugged into the region’s association of school superintendents and is working to make inroads with local business owners.

“There’s just a lot of things that are ingrained into the school culture that are really cool and really exciting, and that the kids and the staff and the families take a lot of pride in,” Lee said. “And so I’m excited to experience all those things for the first time, while also making sure that we are taking steps so that Swan River is part of the conversation in five years and 10 years, and small rural schools are struggling across the country right now.”

The district saw a 12% decrease in its student enrollment from fall 2023 to fall 2024, per previous Beacon reporting. That enrollment decrease isn’t unique to Swan River. The county’s public elementary school districts saw an overall decrease of 117 students in that same time frame. It was the second year in a row that Flathead County school enrollment has dropped.

In Montana, enrollment declines can pose a challenge for school districts. School funding in the state comes mainly through per-student entitlement referred to as “average number belonging,” or ANB. Falling enrollment means schools lose out on funding they previously received. In turn, that can spell struggles with districts’ abilities to maintain staff and purchase supplies.

But Lee sees chances to attract students to Swan River through open enrollment. He said he has already observed high levels of open enrollees coming to the elementary district. He hopes to find the school’s “niche” — what is bringing students into the district — and keep it at the forefront.  

“I think that there’s a lot of things that I’m going to be jotting down over this next school year,” Lee said. “And then probably really reflecting on towards the end of the school year to say, ‘okay, these are the things that I’m seeing, this is what we’re doing really, really well.’”

Swan River begins the 2025-2026 school year Sept. 2.

Five Flathead County school districts are primed to start the 2025-2026 school year with new leadership at the helm. Top administrators in Somers Lakeside, Swan River, Fair-Mont-Egan, Creston and Kila either retired or resigned at the end of the last school year. This story is part of a series focused on the new administrators in each district.

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