Free Lunches to K-12 Students!
Ekalaka Public Schools is excited to announce that we were approved for the nationwide USDA Summer Food Service Program Waiver and will provide FREE lunches to all students K-12. Currently, the waiver is valid through December 31, 2020. Ekalaka Public Schools continues to offer FREE breakfast to all students K-12 and will continue with this program as long as possible. We encourage all students to participate in the free breakfast and lunch program!
Community information on the closure of school
August 28th, 2020
Dear Ekalaka Community,
We are coming to the end of our second week back to school which is a huge celebration! When you walk down the hallways of our two schools, students are happy to be back with their friends, and teachers are excited to have classrooms full of their kids. There is a brightness to everyone’s smiles! We as a district want nothing more than to keep this going. We want our kids and staff interacting and learning in our buildings safely together. To be able to maintain this to the best of our ability there are changes, some that are not so noticable, and others that are making school a different environment than any other year. As a district, we needed to take these precautionary measures to ensure the safety of our students, staff, and community.
There has been a lot of concern and anxiety about how long this will last. Although we hope the entire school year, nobody has the answers to that. When a decision has to be made about closing our schools, it will be made by the local school board. The board has agreed to take advice from public health into consideration for any decisions made during this pandemic. Working together with public health is a crucial step for making any decision regarding the virus. If we have an incident where there is possible exposure to the virus, our building administrators would seek out insight from our public health officials before making a decision on what to do- that day. However, a long term decision to close schools would take an emergency meeting by the board to make the decision. The same goes for a time frame of the closure and when the school would open back up. The closure, time frame of the closure, and reopening would all be at the discretion of our local school board.
Our board, administrators, teachers, staff, parents, and students all want to be in school. The only shut down that would be out of our local control would be if the governor, like last spring, mandated the shutdown of schools. In that case, we would not have the choice but to follow orders. I hope this clarifies any misunderstanding about who will be making the decision to close schools in our district.
I encourage parents and the community to attend local school board meetings. These are open to the public and all are welcome. Our meetings will be held on the second Tuesday of each month at the high school, and currently meetings are starting at 7. In the fall the time will change to 6 to accommodate the time change. Please keep our students and staff in your thoughts and prayers to get through this school year on school campus, together, and safe.
Sincerely, Katy Wright Superintendent Ekalaka Public Schools
Ekalaka Public Schools Re-opening Plan
This is the Reopening Plan as of 8-19-20 dealing with COVID-19. This plan will be tweaked as needed through the coming weeks and months, so please refer to it.
To print, download the pdf by scrolling down and selecting the link below the pdf.
School Supply List 20-21
Our Phone Numbers have changed!
Due to an equipment upgrade, we have changed our phone numbers! To contact the school please dial: (406) 630-1523 To contact the Business office dial 630-1521 To contact the Superintendent, dial 630-1522 To contact the Technology/Transportation office, dial 630-1511
Montana School Library Digital Collection
Online Library books!
Ekalaka Public Schools has entered the Montana School Library Shared Digital Collection and our students have been granted access. This allows our students to check out ebooks and audiobooks electronically.
In order to make use of this collection, click this link or the picture below. Select "Ekalaka Elementary District 15" and then enter your library card number which is actually just the first part of the student google account name.
If you have any questions about what your username is or how to access, please contact Casey Whitney for more information.
Starting Smarter
You are the expert on your child. Over the course of a school year, you receive lots of information on how your child is performing in school that combine to give you a more complete picture of your child’s academic progress. In addition to report card grades and class tests, you can use test score reports to better understand your child’s strengths and areas in need of improvement to start a meaningful conversation with your child’s teacher about how to better support learning at home.
Starting Smarter
Infinite Campus App
Parents and students,
Infinite Campus has two mobile apps: Campus Student (for students) and Campus Parent (for parents). Download your free app for real-time access to grades, assignments, attendance, schedules, announcements and more.
Follow this link for the app downloads. https://www.infinitecampus.com/audience/parents-students
District Information
Welcome to Ekalaka Public Schools
About Our District
It’s pronounced EE-ka-LAH-kah.
The town of Ekalaka, Montana has an elementary school district (K-8) and a secondary school district (9-12) delivering educational services to the community. Ekalaka, the county seat of Carter County, is a strong agricultural community of under 400 located in southeastern Montana. The county consists of 3,312 square miles. Farming and ranching is the economic base for the area. The first class graduated from Carter County High School in 1919. Ekalaka also boasts ownership to the first museum in the state of Montana. The Ekalaka schools have a long-standing history of delivering a quality education to the students that they serve. Ekalaka Elementary School has about 96 students enrolled in grades K-8 and the High School has 44 students enrolled 9-12. Ekalaka Public Schools employs 19.5 full-time equivalent teachers for the school year. Carter County is classified as a Class C school district for participation in the Montana High School Association activities program.
District/Board Policy Philosophy
Ekalaka Public Schools exists to provide a positive learning environment for students to achieve their highest level of education and self-esteem by maximizing their personal, academic, social and emotional potential. To bring out the full potential or all students, depending on their needs, so they possess the capability to function in the competitive world.
Core Values of the Ekalaka Public Schools:
* Communication: The district is committed to effective and honest communication through teamwork and consistency.
* Forward thinking: The district is committed to follow a path of progressive thinking in order to build a strong educational foundation for the students of our community.
* Respect, Pride and Passion: We are committed to ensuring that the students, staff, parents and community maintain a high level of respect, pride and passion for Ekalaka Public Schools.
* Safe, Positive Environment: We firmly believe a safe, positive environment is the cornerstone for students to achieve their highest level of education.
* High Standard of Educating Students: We will achieve a standard of excellence through education, leadership and serving the needs of our students.
Summary of District 5-year Goals
The Ekalaka Public Schools District has completed the correlate review of effective schools and has identified seven goals through this process for inclusion into the five year plan. The identified five year plan goals are broad statements designed to form the basis for the more specific yearly goals which are directed at a particular outcome. The seven goals are as follows:1. The district will continue the development and transformation to a professional learning community focused on student achievement.
2. The district will continue improvement of math proficiency in the district/schools.
3. The district will continue the improvement of reading proficiency in the district/schools.
4. The district will continue the development and integration of the writing program.
5. The district will continue the development and integration of the Indian Education for All programs across all content areas and grade levels.
6. The district will continue the integration of technology into all curriculums and instruction.
7. The District will continue to utilize Smarter Balanced and MAP testing data to assist teachers in monitoring and modifying curriculum and instruction to meet the needs of all students.