Six months into his post as Missoula County Public Schools superintendent, Alex Apostle feels firmly back in the saddle.
The former assistant superintendent of Tacoma's public school district had been retired for several years before seeking Missoula's top administrative post. He landed it after an extensive public job search that featured open houses, meetings with teaching staff and formal interviews with the MCPS Board of Trustees. The board chose Apostle from among four finalists.
Apostle replaced Jim Clark, who retired last summer after six years leading the district. The MCPS superintendent administers an institution that's one of the biggest employers in town, with more than 700 teachers and staff and 8,400 students. It's also a very public position - its owner answering for student performance, teacher salaries and educational innovations.
MCPS Board Chairwoman Toni Rehbein said Apostle gave the trustees a multi-page summary of his activities over the first 90 days of this school year that was remarkable for its depth. After sidetracking some efforts like restructuring high school class schedules and imposing a new set of districtwide goals, the new superintendent has been actively reshaping the district's to-do list.
“He's moving rapidly and bringing everyone in the district along with him,” Rehbein said. “We're very, very fortunate to have a person of his level of expertise in our community. He really is a gift to this community.”
Rehbein said Apostle has already instituted some cost-free ways of improving student performance, such as asking teachers to contact students and their families when they're at risk of receiving a D or F in a course.
“We want to head that off at the pass - give the kids who need it special attention and a hand up,” Rehbein said. “That doesn't cost us any extra money to do.”
Missoula Education Association President Jack Sturgis was also pleased with Apostle's first semester.
“He's in the schools a lot more, and very engaged with staff,” Sturgis said. “He said early on he'd work shoulder-to-shoulder with staff, and he's been serious and honest about that.”
MCPS and the rest of Montana's schools face a troubled future budget-wise, with the state Legislature and the federal government both looking at less, not more, money to distribute. Apostle and Sturgis already have plans to make their case in Helena this January as the Legislature starts the 2009 session. And they've met with local legislators to build support for Missoula's funding needs.
“My responsibility is to keep this district moving forward regardless the financial situation,” Apostle said. That said, he also hoped for a day when he had enough money to extend the school year and school day - two ways he believes will better prepare students for adult life. He'd also like to see the federal government take on more of its program-funding responsibility, so local property taxes could better support local staff salaries.
Apostle said he's looking forward to a project with University of Montana education experts in developing a 21st Century Schools master plan.
The collaboration would look at ways to let students earn high school and college credit for advanced courses, improved distance-learning methods to connect teachers with far away students, and other linkages between public and higher education.
Inviting more college professors into elementary and high school classrooms, sending more young students to college campus activities and ensuring graduating seniors have what they need to succeed at the college level are other aspects of the collaboration.
One challenge Apostle met coming into the job was a big enrollment drop at Seeley-Swan High School in Seeley Lake. The far-north school lost a quarter of its student body between 2007 and 2008, and has been leaking numbers for many of the past several years.
Nevertheless, there are no plans to close the school or scale back its operations, Apostle said.
“There are a lot of small high schools in Montana, and their communities love them,” he said. “As far as I'm concerned, Seeley-Swan is there to stay. We have excellent leadership and a great staff there, and a very supportive community.”
On the federal end of education matters, Apostle said No Child Left Behind accountability standards should remain a fact of life for teachers and children. But he hoped federal education officials would make the rules more “relative and realistic” when applied to small and rural communities such as many of those in Montana. And he maintained his goal to see local students surpass federal test thresholds.
Rehbein said one of Apostle's more notable efforts has been his five monthly outreach meetings with different neighborhoods, business communities, teacher groups and parents.
“I have not yet spoken to an individual in the community who did not find him outstanding when they had an opportunity to meet with him,” Rehbein said. “And my experience with teachers has been the same.”
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