Summer Report From Superintendent Dan Rispens
Author: East Helena Schools Superintendent Dan Rispens
Summer Report from Superintendent Dan Rispens
Dan Rispens
East Helena Schools Superintendent
Greetings from East Helena!
School’s out for Summer. East Helena wrapped things up Friday, June 6. Our EHHS graduates were celebrated at a great outdoor ceremony on May 30. We are wishing a wonderful summer break to all of our students, staff and their families. It was a great, productive school year, and we are already deep into planning for fall 2025 and another great year in East Helena.
Although school is out, there is still a lot going on in our schools. High school athletes are doing summer workouts at our facilities and in our weight room. Community groups utilize our facilities for summer camps and activities. We serve about 200 students in our grades K-11 summer programs, which run into July. The K-5 program is focused on literacy and math skill maintenance and building while the 6-11 program is intended to help students catch up on learning or credits or jump ahead in their work. Additionally, we have crews working daily to clean and maintain our schools and keep the grounds looking sharp.
Summer is also when we do some heavy lifting in terms of essential maintenance. This summer, that will include replacing part of Radley School’s roof and repairing damaged and degraded asphalt at our bus barn. One exciting project this summer will be the installation of new playground equipment at the Radley Elementary Playground, compliments of our awesome East Helena PTO! In the business office we will be busy preparing the district budget for next year and making sure all employment contracts and documents are in order for our staff.
A couple months ago, I discussed the district’s infrastructure committee and population growth in East Helena. I recently reviewed a news article that identified East Helena as second only to Kalispell in terms of total growth. Our growth rate is at about 5% annually. It’s no secret this valley is a great place to live, and there is an abundance of buildable residential lots in East Helena. People continue to relocate to our area. The school district has the challenge of managing our facilities to be able to serve resident children.
One thing we have noticed is that many of our new residents do not have school-aged children or their kids are older and tend to be middle or high school aged versus elementary. We will continue to monitor the situation and market conditions and try to be prepared if and when the next capital construction project becomes necessary.
With that, I’ll be signing off for summer. I’ll circle back in September with a fall update and recap of our summer projects. Have a great Montana Summer, everyone!
Dan Rispens is the Superintendent of the East Helena Public Schools. He can be reached at 406-227-7700 or drispens@ehps.k12.mt.us
