Thinking Outside the Box The Bozeman Charter School

WRITTEN BY SARAH HENDERSON

At 8:20 a.m. on a weekday morning, Isaac logs on to Mrs. Burke’s morning meet. His day runs a few hours ahead of Mountain Time, making it 10:20 a.m. in Colombia when the school day begins. On the other side of the world, Natalia signs on from Japan, nearly a full day ahead of her friends. Locally, the other students in Mrs. Burke’s class at Bozeman Charter School sign on from desks in bedrooms, dining rooms and even the car while dropping a sibling off at school. This style of schooling is nothing if not flexible. Teachers need to see the students’ workspace and materials clearly on-screen and students must be on-time and on-camera for the entire meet. The rest is largely up to the needs of the student and their family.

Bozeman Charter School (BoCS) grew out of the online school created by the Bozeman School District in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the district’s growing need for a flexible option. The school operates as part of the Bozeman School District and enrollment is free to Bozeman residents. This year, BoCS dropped “online” from its name, choosing to be known more accurately as Bozeman Charter School, the first and only public charter school in the state of Montana. The online component is key, but it is far from the whole picture. Bozeman Charter School operates on three guiding principles: a flexible schedule, competency-based learning and expeditionary learning.

A flexible schedule

Students attend school online in the morning to receive mandatory core instruction with a dedicated “live” classroom teacher. There are scheduled breaks and blocks of independent work between online meetings. In the afternoon, students can choose to attend in-person, for further instruction and special activities like music, library and health enhancement. BoCS elementary students (second through fifth grade) meet in two well-appointed classrooms at Irving Elementary, while middle schoolers (sixth through eighth) convene in their own space on the second floor of Willson School. The afternoon session is optional, allowing families to choose how that time is spent. According to a report commissioned by the Bozeman School District, “[In a flexible learning model] Many students have opportunities for vocation, athletics and other pursuits that make a traditional, time-based system of education prohibitive to their personal growth.”

(National Alternative Education Association, 2014)

Learning at your own pace

Competency-based learning is another pillar of the Bozeman Charter School. Students progress with their own mastery as the guide. This system allows for personalized interventions for students who may struggle, and opportunities for acceleration for students who may progress more quickly than their age-level peers. In the BoCS model, assessment does not lead to punishment for poor performance, rather it is an opportunity to adjust expectations, explore different learning strategies and develop a growth mindset. A competency-based learning environment strives to meet the needs of all students, individualizing instruction in the hopes of closing achievement gaps.

Real-world learning

Each week, BoCS students discover a new part of their community through hands-on, experiential learning. BoCS students have visited the Outdoor Wilderness Learning School (O.W.L.S.), the Bozeman Public Safety Center, Crosscut Mountain Sports, Spire Climbing, The Gallatin Valley Regional Food Bank and Gallatin Ice, to name a few. They have been visited by the Bozeman High School Coding Club, learned about the science of snow from Montana Outdoor Science School and examined Bear Biology with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. Deepening students’ relationship with the world around them, especially at the local level, is essential to the BoCS model. BoCS Expeditionary Learning Coordinator Chris Ottey says, “Expeditionary learning provides incredible opportunities for students to be engaged in active, applicable, real-life learning that is meaningful and memorable.”

A new opportunity

There are hundreds of children thriving in the traditional school model here in Bozeman. Our playgrounds are filled with happy children, squealing and playing, a rainbow of snow pants and lost mittens. But there is also a large community of children who are not at their best in that same model: Children who thrive with more time at home, a higher level of parent involvement and a smaller cohort to navigate. Children who need more time to process their school subjects, or, conversely, less time and crave the challenge of schoolwork beyond their grade level.

Bozeman Charter School creates an opportunity for all students in the community to thrive within the public school system. BoCS continues to pursue charter school-specific grant funding to support its growth long term. With the support of the community, Montana’s first public charter school could become the model for alternative education statewide, providing new opportunities for the next generation of Montanans to learn and grow through public education.

To enroll in the BoCS or request additional information, please contact principal Jennifer Westphal at jennifer.westphal@bsd7.org, 406-53-6500, YouTube www.youtube.com/@ bozemancharterschoolpac, Instagram @ bocspac.

“I love BoCS because we can travel to see my grandparents in North Carolina and Missouri and I don’t miss any school. I have classmates who are traveling the world now while in school, so it’s fun to learn about where they are and what they are doing. Online learning is fun and the afternoon classes are different every day. My teacher is very nice, too.”

~ Elsie, BoCS second grader

“The BoCS is a place where my son has been allowed to explore his own strengths, pursue them and grow. It is an extremely special community of teachers, staff and students. The BoCS is my son’s school where he has become a successful learner and a human being confident in his own abilities.”

~ Hallie Echols, BoCS middle school parent

“We love that BoCS gives us the opportunity to work and travel with the entire family unit. With two parents that have to travel for work, it really gives us the most flexibility, keeping our child’s schooling accessible and affordable. With the cost of everything going up it would be very difficult to find an economical traveling tutor/private online program. This program allows us to still be a part of the community that we love and adore while away.”

~Vanessa Santos, BoCS elementary school parent

BoCS is highly effective for students seeking:

1. Personalized instruction (via goals, pacing and context through competency-based education);

2. Flexible scheduling (based on health, personal, situational, curricular and extracurricular needs);

3. Learning opportunities outside the traditional classroom;

4. Classroom settings that provide fewer physical distractions and the ability to learn anytime from anywhere; and a flexible learning community focused on academic, personal and social emotional growth.

~ Bozeman School District