Yesterday I traveled from Los Angeles to Bozeman, Montana. While waiting for our flight out of LAX, an articulate young woman struck up a conversation with my husband. She asked if we were headed to Bozeman and indicated that she is from here. A few exchanges revealed that she is a ski instructor and student . . . at Bozeman High School. So, what do two teachers who are also parents of a soon-to-be-high-schooler do in this situation? Ask dozens of questions about her high school experience, of course.
It turns out that she is about to begin her junior year and described herself as a “part-time student.” But, really, she just attends traditional classes on a part-time basis and also takes a few online classes so that she has time to work as a ski instructor. Having taught the first online class offered in the district I worked in for 20+ years, I was curious about her online course offerings and experiences. I had to repeatedly pester my administration to be permitted to teach an online class. I pushed for more hybrid and online offerings for students. But, only a few additional courses were ever added. The benefits of having local teachers facilitating these classes is invaluable in my opinion. Still, I’m a big fan of flexibility and at least she had some options. Most of her online classes are based in Missoula, so she cannot speak in person to her teachers. But, she did say that it was easy to communicate online with them. She is currently taking a class through Brigham Young University (which she had to pay for). That class, she reported was terrible and not user-friendly at all.
What was interesting though, was simply that she had so many options available. Her school allows for students to take classes at times that work for them. You might think that she intends to pursue a career as a skier, given that she is making time to work as an instructor. This isn’t her plan, though. When our gate was changed and we walked over together, she told me that she usually goes to a summer dance camp/workshop because she’s “a dancer.” But, she doesn’t want to pursue that as a career either. Instead, she wants to be a marine biologist which is why she spent the summer in Hawaii with relatives.
Bozeman is a city of about 45,000 in a state of just over a million people. The area code for every phone in the state is 406. Let that sink in. Bozeman High School has about 2,200 students. This city is growing at a rapid pace and schools are being built to accommodate the influx of students. Still, it’s hardly the bustling metropolis of Southern California.
My family and I visit Bozeman several times a year and have seen the expansion of this small, beautiful, and friendly city. People at home in California often ask what Montana is like–is it rugged and all open space (yes, some parts are, but not everywhere), are there a lot of cowboys (yes, but not everyone is a cowboy), do they have Costco (yes, and Target). There is an underlying assumption by many that Montana is “backward” or behind the times. But, really, Bozeman is beautiful, progressive and has wonderful food and the friendliest people (and dogs) we’ve ever met. But, we’ve often wondered about the schools. How could the one high school in the city have more to offer than where we live in Southern California? After all, there are so many school districts there and surely there must be some element of competition. They must draw on combined experiences to implement the best practices, right? Plus, people pay a lot of money to live in Southern California and move to certain zip codes just for the schools. They must be innovative and progressive and flexible, right?!
But, then we had a chance encounter with a high school student in the airport. She described her school as “good” and elaborated on all the Advanced Placement and elective and online course offerings she had available. She has been able to pursue avocations of skiing and dancing, while discovering her intended career path. She has taken a variety of online classes–German, Advanced Placement U.S. History, and gym/physical education. Her sophomore honors English class read Beowulf, Catch-22, Macbeth, Candide, For Whom the Bell Tolls, among others. It was synced with her European History class. Sounds pretty progressive to me. We have to do better. While people in my own community in California suggest that Montanans might be behind-the-times, it sure sounds to me like their kids are ahead of ours in many ways.
A quick glance at the Bozeman High School Bell Schedule reveals that they offer 50 minute classes, zero through seventh period. Years ago when I inquired as to why we weren’t offering more zero or seventh period classes, I was told that the district wouldn’t include those classes in our “allocation.” Meaning offering them would cause other classes to be larger. In other words, the district really didn’t support offering courses outside the traditional school day. Another point to note is that lunch at Bozeman High School is a full 50 minutes, plus a five minute passing period, as opposed to the 31 minutes with a seven-minute passing period at the school where my husband teaches. Why aren’t the high schools near where I live doing the same?
We have the ability and technology to offer flexible schedules with hybrid and online options. There are students, families, and teachers who want flexibility. We can still support students while providing rigorous courses. Most importantly, we are tasked with preparing students to enter a changing world and so we need to adjust our practices. Why aren’t we doing more to give students and families options that fit their lives? We can do better. Why aren’t we?
Update-Ed 
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