Dear Cascade Families and Community Members,

We have wrapped up the first quarter of school and are well on our way into the second quarter. The year is moving quickly as the students and teachers are actively working on educational and social standards in creative ways. 

This past month, the students experienced hands-on activities and took part in thanking others for their service to the school and community. The Early Kindergarten class was able to learn about firemen and women and got to see a firetruck up close with a personal tour. The Kindergarten class conducted their apple project that was finished off with Mrs. Stevens’ famous apple pancakes. The first and second grade classes were surprised with a donation of pumpkins from Torgerson’s. Each student in attendance was able to take home their very own pumpkin. The third grade class studied seeds and seedlings and was able to dissect seeds beginning to sprout. The fourth graders studied poetry and combined their own poetry with an art project displaying a “scaredy cat”. Finally the fifth grade class built miniature catapults and were able to test them by launching candy pumpkins down the hallway. All of the elementary students took time throughout October to write thank you notes to our bus drivers, the road grating crews, and are continuing to write and complete projects to thank our veterans. If you have a chance to come by the school, please make sure you take a look at the artwork in the commons and hallways from our talented students. 

Thank you for the wonderful turnout for the parent-teacher conferences.  I want to thank each one of you for making education a priority by taking part in these important discussions with your child’s teacher. Without each of you encouraging the students and instilling the importance of education, our jobs would be impossible to complete.

Members of our school are traveling to Washington D.C. this month to receive the National Blue Ribbon School Award for 2021. Cascade Elementary was one of 325 schools recognized across the country and only one of two schools in Montana chosen for the award. The elementary school was nominated for its academic excellence in recent years thanks to the dedication of our teachers, staff, and students. We would like to recognize their achievement with a community wide celebration late November or early December. Please be on the lookout for more details.

Our annual Veterans Day assembly will be November 11th, from 9:00-10:00am.  K-12 students will perform patriotic songs, and we will honor local women and men who have served in our nation’s armed forces.  Please join us for this important celebration, and allow a little extra time for cake and coffee after the assembly in the commons area.

The next PTSA meeting is November 15th at 4:30pm in the library. Please consider joining us; it would be great to see new faces, and we’d love to hear your opinions and ideas. I would like to thank the PTSA for their hard work providing fundraisers, events, and support to our classrooms. As always, their dedication to our students and school is extraordinary. 

It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving break is just around the corner. I hope you are able to reflect on all the blessings we have. This holiday season will be a difficult time for many due to the great amount of loss to our community this last year and especially within the last couple of months. Please don’t hesitate to let the administration or Ms. Jones, the school counselor, know if there is a family or community member in need. I firmly believe that it will take all of us working together to make a positive impact on our children, and I am continuously amazed by the way the community joins together to help out the fellow residents in times of need.

Have an awesome November and a great Thanksgiving!

Michelle Price, Cascade Elementary School Principal 

(406) 468-9383 ex. 106,  

michelle.price@cascade.k12.mt.us