The Great Falls Public School Board voted during their Nov. 27 meeting to make appointments to the new CORE School advisory committee.

The seven-member committee will serve in an advisory capacity to the school board and the CORE School and be a liaison between the school and the board, according to the district.

Morningside Elementary was selected for the CORE School earlier this month.

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The district’s elementary curriculum coordinator, Rachel Cutler, will lead the group.

The other six members are representatives from each of the following groups:

• University of Montana-Western
• GFPS school board member
• CORE School parent
• CORE School teacher
• community member
• educator at large

Applications for parent, community member and educator positions were available on the GFPS website.

School board members Amie Thompson, Marlee Sunchild and Kim Skornogoski met Nov. 22 to review the applications for the two-year terms.

Skornogoski said the two-year term allows the group to focus on the work of taking CORE School from zero to functional and then evolve as the school develops.

Sunchild will be the board representative on the committee.

The UM-Western representative is Laura Strauss.

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Shelly Fagenstrom was appointed as the community representative; Jessica Irwin as the parent representative and Bob Griffith as the educator representative.

Jackie Mainwaring, an assistant superintendent, said that the application for the CORE School principal closes on Dec. 1 and the district will interview those internal candidates in December.

A form for parents interested in having their students attend the CORE school is available on the GFPS website.

GFPS officials presented CORE School to the Montana Board of Education during their Nov. 30 meeting.

The state board meets again Jan. 18-19 and will review the applications for approval or denial of public charter school status.

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During the meeting, Mainwaring, Cutler, Superintendent Tom Moore and Marni Napierala, the elementary teacher on assignment.

They said that CORE stands for:

• creation of teachers
• opportunities for students
• respect for uniqueness of our community
• excellence in education

Napierala said that they’ve had a hard time recruiting teachers in recent years and that 44 percent of elementary teachers in the district are in their first three years.

She said they know that beginning teachers have always needed more support and aim to provide that through their CORE School concept.

Even if the district isn’t approved as a public charter school, district staff are moving forward with their plan to turn one existing elementary school to turn into CORE School in an effort to address teacher recruitment and retention.

CORE School will essentially be a learning laboratory and will be staffed by teachers with masters degrees who go through a separate selection process and will also be hired as adjunct staff for the University of Montana-Western’s education program.

They’ll go through an application process and be paired with student teachers from Western’s program or other university education programs.

The student teachers from university programs will be hired by the district as paraeducators or teacher aides, which have also been in short supply, while their completing their degree program in an immersive educational setting.

GFPS teachers who aren’t selected for the CORE School will be able to move to another school under the existing process in their collective bargaining agreement, according to district administrators.

District officials said current teachers would not lose their jobs under the proposal.

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Current students at the selected school will have the option to stay, but for those that want to leave, they could be moved to a nearby school or go through the district’s existing permissive transfer process.

The classrooms will be filled to state capacity and will use a lottery system to fill any available elementary student slots at the lab school, district officials said.

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The CORE School would open in the fall of 2024 with the UM-Western students coming that spring, according to GFPS.

During the Nov. 30 presentation to the state board of education, GFPS officials said the charter would allow the district to provide flexibilities in instruction and enhancements like experiential learning and STEM.

They said their goals are to build strong relationships at all levels of education in Montana, promote teacher recruitment and retention of new and current teachers.

They said said they believe accelerated teacher leaning will lead to accelerated student learning because, “it’s the teacher that makes the difference.”

Dr. Ron Slinger of the state board, said “what an interesting model” and that he could easily see the value for teacher recruitment and retention but want to hear more about the benefits for the elementary students.

Mainwaring said that the charter status would allow flexibility and the possibility of more funding to allow for experiential opportunities such as field trips, more hands on learning and STEM education.

Slinger asked GFPS officials about the rotations for the student teachers at CORE School.

Strauss of UM-Western, said it’s a grant-funded accelerated degree program. She said that it’s a three year program if students don’t come in with transferable courses, but could be shorter if they do.

She said it’s “such an immersive experience for them” and the elementary students will benefit from the unique relationships between teacher candidates and mentor teachers.

Strauss said it will be an enriched experience for the student teachers and elementary students.

Superintendent Tom Moore said that they’ll measure success in several ways to include overall academic achievement, the waiting list for students wanting to attend the CORE School and the board’s regular evaluation of the program.

During the meeting, Brett Doney of the Great Falls Development Authority said that they’re “extremely excited” for the CORE School.

He said that Great Falls’ economy has lagged behind some other Montana cities and so it’s important to offer innovative education opportunities.

Fred Anderson, a Great Falls legislator who sponsored the legislation to create the public charter schools, said that the GFPS proposal “exemplifies the intent of the legislation.”

He said the GFPS concept address teacher shortages, acclimating preservice teachers to GFPS and providing an “outstanding learning environment” to elementary students.

Shane Etzweiler of the Great Falls Area Chamber of Commerce also spoke in support of the CORE School proposal.