New superintendent, staff members ready for upcoming school year

The first day of school is just two weeks away and students returning to Lincoln Public Schools can expect to see some different faces on the staff this year, but new Superintendent Jennifer Packer said they shouldn't expect any major changes.

"Everything's working, we're not going to fix anything that's not broken," she said.

Packer took over the Superintendent position from Carla Anderson July 1 and has been settling into her new job over the past month, but the Lincln School system isn't entirely new to her. Long-time residents and former Lincoln students may remember her as the special education teacher here from 1995-2001. She returns to Lincoln from CM Russel High School in Great Falls, where she worked as the Associate coordinator for Special Education.

Compared to her job in Great Falls, Packer said things such as scheduling, working with parents and with the faculty and staff is basically the same as in her former job, but she said there's a lot more to it and admitted there's still a steep learning curve. "But I'm doing all right. I'm enjoying it actually," she said.

Packer said the faculty and staff has all been very supportive and she's looking forward to working with them.

Joining her in the school's administration will be Shane Brown, who will serve part-time as the principal for all grades this year. Brown will continue to teach four shop classes, but will handle principal duties in the middle of the day.

"We'll work together with professional development with the teachers, with the discipline for the students for that amount of time. He'll help with evaluations with the elementary teachers, and so on," she said. "We're still working out what's going to work best, and adjust as we go," Packer said.

The Lincoln School Board made the decision to separate the principal position back out from the superintendent position back in January, after Anderson announced her plan to retire. The positions were consolidated in 2015 when enrollment was in decline, but it has since rebounded, increasing the workload of both jobs.

"It allows for us to have more administration," said Packer "This job is time consuming. There is a lot of paperwork and time working with all the grants and the budget and everything like that."

Also new to the school office this year is the school's new secretary Danielle Barnett,

"She's been in working and doing a great job. She's trying to get organized and school packets ready and all that stuff."

Barnett takes over for Olivia Cameron, who married Chad Dietz last weekend.

There will be some new faces among the faculty as well.

Nancy Schwalm will be stepping in as the Schools science teacher, following the retirement of veteran science teacher George Pierce at the end of the last school year.

"She's really excited. I think she'll do some great things," Packer said.

The school also has a new Physical Educations and Health teacher in Kristy Guyton, a new preschool teacher, Nicole Sparks and a new second grade teacher, Loretta Greenough.

There will be a familiar face returning to Lincoln Schools as well. Packer said Jeanette Winslow will be taking on a new Family and Consumer Science class that will be offered in lieu of music classes.

Packer said the music program had to be abandoned for this school year following the unexpected resignation of music teacher Melissa Gilbert, who will be moving to Power.

"Music teachers are hard to come by," Packer said. "Lots and lots and lots of schools are looking for music teachers. We didn't get any applications because they're needed everywhere."

She said they made the decision to bring back Family and Consumer Science – basically the new name for what old-timers would call Home Economics – after hearing a lot of interest in seeing its return.

Packer said it's about more than cooking and sewing these days, and teaches important life skills. "It also goes into financial literacy, being able to budget. It's kind of like a prep for life after school."

Winslow taught Family and Consumer Science classes at Lincoln school in the past and Packer thought she would be interested in coming back.

Beyond the regular school day, Packer said they are working toward some sort of after school program following the loss of grant funding for the popular POUNCE Program.

"The community, I think is coming together so we can try to keep some afterschool program going," she said.

This year's Lincoln Bike Rally included a silent Auction fundraiser to benefit the POUNCE program. The Tenacious Dames Riding Club , which organized the Bike Rally and the fundraiser, raised $3401, which included a $1500 donation from North West Home Care, Inc. and donated it to the afterschool program. Gary Zadick also "passed the hat" at the Lincolnstock Music Festival to raise money for the program. Packer said the fundraising efforts are wonderful.

"The plan is, somehow we're definitely going to have some sort of afterschool program," she said. "We're just not sure at this minute how it's going to work."