De La Salle Blackfeet School, Browning, Montana
De La Salle Blackfeet School celebrated its 25th anniversary this year. One highlight was Catholic Schools Week. The week began with a community Mass at Little Flower Parish, where students, families, and parishioners gathered to pray and celebrate Catholic education. The school hosted a community breakfast and open house in the De La Salle gym, offering visitors an opportunity to meet teachers and view the work of students. Throughout the week, students participated in activities that reflected the unique mission of De La Salle Blackfeet School as a Catholic, Lasallian, and Blackfeet educational community. Students wrote essays reflecting on what it means to live these identities together. We held a Blackfeet and Lasallian scavenger hunt, and we put together items for a school time capsule to commemorate the school’s 25th anniversary. Catholic Schools Week also emphasized community and vocation. A Blackfeet community presentation by Kim Jiron-DeRoche encouraged students to reflect on service and leadership within the Blackfeet Nation, while De La Salle Christian Brothers visited classrooms to speak about Religious vocation and the Lasallian mission. The week concluded with a talent show and a friendly student vs. staff basketball game that brought the school together with great spirit.
The MAP testing showed considerable improvement in reading skills in Grades 3, 6 and 8, reflecting strong literacy instruction. We also saw growth in mathematic skills in Grades 5, 6 and 7, while growth in science skills was noted in Grades 4 and 6. These strong test scores are encouraging signs of our students’ continuing academic growth.
De La Salle Blackfeet School welcomed several visiting groups through the OKI-NI-SOO-KA-WA (Come & See) Blackfeet Immersion program. Students and staff from La Salle High School, Yakima, WA; Mullen High School, Denver, CO; Christian Brothers Academy, Newark, NJ; and Calvert Hall College High School, Towson, MD joined our community for weeks of service, classroom assistance and cultural learning within the Blackfeet Nation.