New BES assistant principal feels welcomed already

The start of the fall semester is still nearly two months away but Bigfork Elementary School’s new assistant principal, Brenda Clarke, already feels welcomed and has some big plans for the upcoming school year.

“I feel like it’s an adventure for me and I’m very excited,” Clarke said. “I was ready for the next chapter to be an assistant principal and I saw the position was open and in the Flathead Valley, which is real important.”

Clarke currently lives in Kalispell and will commute while working at BES, but the commute won’t be a lonely one as she is also bringing her youngest son, Drew, to BES to attend second-grade.

“I am impressed with its uniqueness, it’s a hidden gem,” Clarke said. “My husband Cory and I have been checking out places. We just went to Rosa’s and Burgerville…deep fried hotdogs, who knew?”

Even though Clarke and her family live in Kalispell, she said they feel like they now have two towns to call their own.

Clarke has worked in education for 17 years, she got her start in Box Elder teaching sixth- through eighth-grade English. She later moved to Edgerton Elementary where she taught sixth-grade and then third-grade before making the move to BES.

Clarke was offered the position last month and is currently familiarizing herself with Bigfork before school starts. She said getting to know the town and her coworkers is at the top of her list of things to do right now.

She’s also looking forward to working with BES Principal Matt Jensen and Bigfork High School Principal Matt Porrovecchio because of how passionate they are about the students. One of the major goals she has for the year is to work on ways to prevent bullying in school.

“The anti-bullying program is very near and dear to my heart,” Clarke said. “In today’s society bullying has become a problem so it is important to stay on top of whatever we can do to help them.”

At the June 20 school board meeting Jensen presented the statistics on bullying for the previous school year. There were 129 office referrals for the elementary school and 150 for the middle school. They found that many of the behavioral issues occured on the playground or coming in from the playground with disrespect to peers and adults as the most common issue.

Last year BES did a rewards program for good behavior that ended with an ice cream party and a significant drop in behavioral issues for that month.

One of Clarke’s anti-bullying plans is to use Dr. Dan Olweus’s system from Norway where every adult involved with the school is accountable for the kids. This means a student can go to anyone, a teacher, janitor, or tutor to report bullying problems. These reports are then documented and shared so the entire school can be informed and do what is necessary to address it.

“I think in education we always face challenges,” Clarke said. “You don’t know what they are until they happen, but I am ready for them when they come.”