Today, Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau will be in town to announce 35 grants to area schools totaling more than $200,000. The grants are all aimed at promoting higher graduation rates.
Read on for more:
Juneau to Announce Grant Awards with
Missoula-Area Graduation Matters Schools
$203,000 Granted to Improve Graduation Rates
and College and Career Readiness
Missoula, MT – Superintendent Denise Juneau will be joined by six Missoula-area schools for the announcement of 35 grants awarded to Montana schools and United Ways to increase the number of Montana students who graduate from high school prepared for college and careers, for a total of $203,000 to support local Graduation Matters initiatives across the state. This is up from 25 grants totaling $165,000 in 2013.
Juneau will be joined by school and community members from Arlee, Hamilton, Hot Springs, Missoula, St. Ignatius, and Thompson Falls.
“We are very pleased to see the impact that Graduation Matters Montana is having on communities across the state,” said Mike Halligan, executive director of the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation. “Since its launch in 2010, local GMM teams have helped hundreds more students graduate, leading to millions of dollars in savings and added boosts to our state’s economy. We have invested in the Graduation Matters Montana program because the strategy and implementation plan targets resources to schools that want to make a difference in the lives of the youth of our state.”
Since the launch of Graduation Matters Montana, the statewide dropout rate has been on the decline, and the graduation rate has gone up. Montana’s high school dropout rate has decreased from 5.0 percent in 2009 to 3.6 percent in 2013, and the graduation rate has increased from 80.7 percent in 2009 to 84.4 percent in 2013. This means that 772 fewer students dropped out in 2013 than in 2009.
WHO: Superintendent Juneau, executive director of the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation Mike Halligan, school leaders, students, and community members from Arlee, Hamilton, Hot Springs, Missoula, St. Ignatius and Thompson Falls.
WHAT: Announcement of $203,000 in grants to Graduation Matters communities and a preview of community plans in 2014-2015.
WHERE: Northern Pacific Depot, Lobby, Railroad Street and N. Higgins (by the X’s), Missoula
WHEN: Wednesday, March 12, 2:00 pm
