Dear Parent/Guardian:   Cascade High School is preparing for the annual administration of the ACT with Writing assessment,administered each year to Montana juniors. As listed on our school calendar, juniors will take theassessment on Tuesday, March 28. State and federal law requires all students to participate for highschool academic achievement reporting in Grade 11. Participation in this test is important. The ACT withWriting is one of many tools to understand individual student achievement (how much your child knowsat the end of the year) and individual progress (how much your child has improved since the previousyear.Our school uses the score information to help families, teachers, and principals understand and addressthe specific academic needs of students in relation to the state mathematics, English language arts, andscience standards. The achievement results will be used in combination with other data to help ouroverall efforts to address our COVID-19 recovery plans to create stronger and more equitable educationsystem for all learners. High school juniors taking the ACT may be interested in options after high school.The Montana Office of Public Instruction (OPI) and Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education(OCHE) have partnered to offer the ACT with Writing at no cost. To support students with postsecondaryopportunities, the OPI and OCHE have compiled 14 non-test “state use” questions. While all 14 stateuse questions are voluntary and are not required to receive a score report, the Montana UniversitySystem (MUS) will use this information to contact students to inform them about scholarships and otherMUS college access opportunities. If students or parents do not want to share this information, studentsmay choose not to complete the non-test questions with no impact on their test scores or grades.   Additionally, through MyACT, students may select up to four college campuses to send theirACT information to. This service typically costs $13/campus but is free to Montana high school juniorsusing the statewide assessment. The ACT’s optional Educational Opportunity Service (EOS) providesstudents with information from colleges, universities, financial aid/scholarship agencies, government agencies,and organizations that offer educational, community and civic involvement, extracurricular, and career opportunities,products and services to assist students with their postsecondary pursuits.Results from the ACT with Writing state assessment provides the state, our district, our school, teachers,you, and your child with information about the knowledge gained over the past school year. Individualstudent reports will be available on each students’ MyACT account with the original report going to theirstudent file. It is important to remember that state assessments provide only one measure of student learning, butwhen combined with grades, classroom activities, unit quizzes and tests, and district-level assessments,the end-of-year tests can complete the picture of a child’s abilities and help him/her down a pathtoward academic success in reaching Montana’s Content Standards.   You can explore our school’s state assessment results by going to the Office of PublicInstruction’s Student Achievement Dashboard or visit Montana’s Report Card Information for Familieswebsite to see how our school compares to other schools across Montana in a variety of differentmeasures.  Here are some things to note about the state assessments:  Your child’s grades will not be impacted by their test scores.   Your child’s privacy will be protected. State and federal laws, such as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), ensure these data remain confidential.   Students with Individual Educational Plans (IEPs), Section 504 plans, or English Learner plans will be assessed based on individual student needs, consistent with all state and federal laws and regulations.  Here are some things you can do to help: •    Encourage your child to do their very best on everything they do in school, including thisassessment. •    Support your child by explaining the purpose of the test Here are three resources toassist you and your child in preparing or this important assessment. o    Kaplan ACT Test Prep Site o    How Parents Can Help Get Ready for the ACT o    Review the “Preparing for the ACT Test” with your child.  We appreciate your partnership in helping Cascade fulfill the state requirement for end-of-yearassessments and supporting your child to do their best.   Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions you may have about state testing this year.Questions can be directed to Ms. Jones at carrie.jones@cascade.k12.mt.us   Sincerely,  Carrie Jones, MSSchool Counselor 

We are looking to hire an assistant volleyball coach for the 2023-24 season.  Please apply online under "current job openings".  

2023 School Trustee Election:The deadline to file for trustee candidacy in the 2023 school election is March 23, 2023 by 5:00 pm. No candidate may appear on the ballot unless they meet this deadline. The deadline for write-in candidates is March 31, 2023 by 5:00 pm.The declaration of intent form can be found on the Election's page of the website: Elections. Declarations of intent must be filed with the District Clerk.Two seats are up for election for a three (3) year term: Rick Cummings & Chris Wilson. At this time, both incumbents have refiled. For more information or questions, please contact District Clerk/Election Administrator, Karsen Floerchinger at (406) 468-9383 x 104 or karsen.floerchinger@cascade.k12.mt.us.

Badger Athlete of the WeekAllie ParkAllie Park is one of the hardest working players I have to coach.  She is full of energy and always comes to practice with a good attitude.  Allie plays with a lot of grit in our games and is always willing to guard post players that are a lot bigger than her.  She has incredible hustle on the court and keeps improving every game.  Great job Allie!Coach Travis

Happy last day of the 3rd Quarter and almost the first day of Spring! Parent teacher conferences will be held, Tuesday March 28th & Thursday, March 30th. Elementary Teachers will send information to reserve a time slot on Sign-Up genius. JH/HS parents will receive an email with information and directions on how to sign up for individual conferences.  We have some great news. We do not need to make up the hours lost on Tuesday due to the emergency. Thank you again for making everything flow as smoothly as possible.Unfortunately we also have some bad news as well;  our Driver’s ed instructor we had lined up is no longer available. We have reached out to other districts regarding their upcoming classes, and there will be classes available in Great Falls in May with registration starting April 15th. You can use this link to sign up (on April 15th); https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfbEeY_o-T0XH_vgPO54vEBUYWaMQQ3LP8hdylZHVPVMrGsnw/closedform .Other classes can be found in Augusta & Power school districts, please contact those schools for more information and to register.  Here is a list of districts from the OPI website as well. https://apps.opi.mt.gov/TrafficEducation/frmApplicationStatus.aspx 

First we would like to thank the local emergency services, staff, students and parents for all your help and support this morning. There was a small electrical fire caused by a short in a light switch. The building has been cleared by the fire marshall. We are having an electrician take another look to ensure there are no other issues or concerns. Classes will resume tomorrow (Wednesday 3/15) as normal. Coaches will be communicating via TeamReach regarding games and practices for tonight. We will have to make up today’s missed instructional minutes and will notify you within the next week as to when that day will be. Again we would like to thank you for your continued support and understanding. 

Due to safety concerns with transportation and bad road conditions, the JH wrestling team will not be going to Conrad tomorrow.

Regional Science Fair Reminders The bus leaves on Thursday at 7:30 AM. Please be at the school by 7:20 AM. We will not be stopping in Ulm to pick up students.  Students need: Boards - It would be best to have all the boards at the school on Wednesday. They can bring them on Thursday if they are still working on them. Journals, research papers and copies of their abstract (optional).  Lunch and water (no other drinks are allowed). There are limited snacks and lunch items in the bookstore.  They should dress nice and wear comfortable shoes. They will be standing by their projects all morning.  The bus will return before the end of the school day.

We are seeking hard working and detail oriented individuals to fill our paraprofessional vacancy.  For more detail & to apply, please visit: www.cascade.k12.mt.us/District/Jobs/