The Helena School District is embarking on a planning process aimed at defining the way we deliver education as well as identifying improvements to facilities that support that educational delivery.  Through a series of public workshops geared toward reaching out to all of the community in order to inform, encourage participation, garner input, and reach consensus, the planning process will give direction to the educational mission and values we share in Helena.

The planning approach is divided into four phases, beginning with Research and Review to ensure we have an excellent understanding of the District’s issues, challenges, culture, and priorities.  The Visioning and Discovery phase is a reflective time to examine what is most important educationally, dream of what learning could be like in the Helena community, and discover possibilities not yet considered.  This phase culminates in a clarified educational vision, goals and guiding principles and becomes the measuring stick for everything else we do. Workshops in the Brainstorming and Solutions phase are filled with a variety of creative scenarios of how the educational vision can come to life in the built form.   Comparison of the existing facilities to the requirements of the spaces needed will be made. Through interactive exercises, solutions are narrowed down to create the solution. The educational plan, with related cost implications, is further delineated in the Refinement Phase.