Jefferson High School has applied for one of 10 to 15 new state educational grants to help students prepare for college and careers.
The iGraduate Montana grant program will provide up to $10,000 to support “workforce development activities, such as connecting students to high-demand career pathways, and/or post-high school education opportunities,” according to a program summary.
Jefferson High would use part of the grant to expand its dual-credit course program, according to the application Principal Mike Moodry prepared.
Moodry attributed last year’s “dramatic increase” in the number of college-going graduates — from 32 percent to 46 percent — to a concurrent increase in the amount of dual-credit courses offered at the school.
The grant would “help our teachers get the necessary background and prep time to offer more dual-credit options at JHS,” he wrote.
School administrators would also use grants funds to create college and career fairs, a job-shadowing program and other opportunities for students, Moodry continued.
Benchmark goals Moodry identified include increasing the school’s graduation rate — from an average of almost 83 percent over the last three years — and involving more parents and the community at large “to support high school completion and college and career planning.”
“We are committed to creating a better community by providing college and career ready citizens from JHS,” he wrote.
The iGraduate Montana grant program was created by Montana’s Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education and the Office of Public Instruction. According to the program summary, it “leverages the successes and lessons learned from Graduation Matters Montana,” an earlier initiative of the two offices.
Grantees will be announced in March.
