New faces = new changes in St. Regis

ST. REGIS - The St. Regis School District has already welcomed one new face to the community and is set to welcome another when the new principal arrives sometime in August.

Principal Joe Steele will join new Superintendent Judy McKay as the new leaders for St. Regis schools. McKay has been on the job for just over a week and is already overseeing a series of physical changes to the facility.

McKay said she brings almost three decades of educational and administrative experience to the district. She also said one of things that attracted her to the job was the way the community embraced childhood education.

“They really celebrate children here,” McKay said. “When I saw that I thought this was the place I wanted to go. As an educational leader my goals have always been centered around students. My goals are to let kids experience as many things as they can and to enhance academics. There’s nothing more fascinating than watching kids learn.”

McKay said she is currently getting up to speed on a variety of school district projects that have been in the works. Among them are several efforts to improve the physical state of the schools and provide opportunities for students to keep pace with a constantly changing technological landscape.

“We are working on a grant funded construction project in the gym,” McKay said. “We are enlarging one of the doorways to make the gym more accessible. We are currently running a technology levy to hopefully expand our technological capabilities. Communications and technology are what it takes to be successful out in the real world.”

While Steele hasn’t yet arrived in Montana, he has been doing what he can from Salmon, ID to prepare for his new position as St. Regis School District principal.

Steele, who has over a decade of educational and administrative experience, said he was looking forward to overseeing a school within a small town because of the access to individual students the situation grants him.

“You get to know all the kids and the families as well,” Steele said. “I like the feel of a small town. You can reach out and do things for the kids and their families that are often much more difficult to do at larger schools.”

Steele said after spending some time in St. Regis earlier in the year, he was able to get a feel for the community and their expectations for him as the new principal.

“I also had a chance to visit and meet some people and everyone was very friendly and encouraging,” Steele said. “I just really like the feel of St. Regis. I think it’s a good fit.”

Steele said, like McKay, one of the things he plans on bringing to St. Regis schools is an emphasis on preparing students for life outside the walls of the schools.

He said he plans on implementing programs designed to stimulate responsible behavior in students and get them thinking about the future.”

“We want to get them thinking about the consequences of their actions and hold them accountable and we hope that will help solve the issues they create for themselves,” Steele said. “My job is to be empathetic and not judge them. Everybody makes mistakes but if you create a situation, you need to know how to fix it. We will give them ideas about how to make better decisions in the future.”