Glacier High School: Fifteen Years Leading the Way

Today marks the fifteenth anniversary of the opening of Glacier High School in Kalispell, Montana. The newest high school in the state for much of that tenure, its first year was its least populous, with only three grades in attendance. Even still, students who were at the school quickly learned to be the first to the cafeteria if they wanted to make it to the food court line for the pizza place. The opening of the school created much short-lived controversy for the last Flathead-only graduating class and the community that (perhaps only briefly, though one would have guessed it was more controversial based on how the local papers covered it) opposed the name of the school's mascot.

As the Kalispell population boomed in the early 2000s, talk of needing a new high school to accommodate the already-crowded Flathead High students were in the works. By 2004, voters passed a plan to begin building the new high school. Relatively quickly, the plans for the new school were drawn up and construction began. Architectural plans made the circuit of the outlying school districts that would attend, and the future students got to vote for their future mascot. The few rumblings heard in opposition to the name were apparently related to ranching and ranchers who had to deal with wolves attacking sheep. Whatever issues there may have been subsided quickly, though, and were not a long-term issue.

The architecture of the building was a big highlight for the newest high school in the state in 30 years. Designers wanted the school's design to rely on natural lighting where possible and lean into emphasizing the beautiful landscape that surrounded the Flathead Valley area. The big focal points of this design were the large front and rear windows in the cafeteria/welcome hall and library, respectively. The high ceilings are accented by wood-beam columns and arches, and the natural light allowed for by the windows is supplemented by hanging lights and sconce lights that do not rely on the fluorescent overhead lights of the classroom. This made for a relaxing study hall and breakroom for both spaces. The layout of the building, too, was designed with emergencies and lockdowns in mind--with multiple dividing doors that would lock automatically in an emergency and groups of classrooms in their distinctive "pod" formation that would make sectioning off in case of a school shooting situation easier. The pods served an additional purpose: breaking up classrooms into smaller groups allowed for fewer traffic flow complications going between classes and entering the classroom. The layout also was intended to allow for groups of similar classes and core curriculum groups in the Freshman classes to stay within the same area for an easier time going between classes.

During the end stages of its construction in late spring/early summer of 2007, the high school took on tours from the outlying schools and 8th grade classes that would be attending in the coming fall. The tour was dedicated to showing the general layout of facilities, including showing off the library and AV area, the fine arts department, a basic "pod" setup, the food court lunch area, and gymnasium. I personally recall taking a break sitting on the main staircase, looking at the tile work underway in the cafeteria. Throughout the summer, various activities camps took place to get future students excited about extracurricular programs. I have memories of attending a girls' basketball camp (and leaving with a sponsored, special Wolfpack basketball). Some sports and activities programs started well before the opening of the school.

For how much emphasis was placed on extracurriculars from the very beginning, the first couple of years for sports were really rough on the Wolfpack sports teams, with no wins for the football team during the 2007-08 school year. However, it wasn't all losses. Big golf star of the Wolfpack, Larry Iverson III, won two AA golf tournaments that first year. By the 2009-2010 school year, however, the standards, teamwork, and school spirit laid down during those slow first two years would lead to the school's impressive series of wins, first attendance at state in football, and excellent extracurricular programs.

While the official opening ceremony took place August 12, 2007, classes didn't start until September 4 (a day earlier than the Sophomores and Juniors). That day saw the very first class of Wolfpack Freshmen for their orientation schedule. That year, the first play performed in the Glacier High School Blackbox theater was Shakespeare's The Tempest. The first school newspaper, The Howl, was published in September of 2007. Traditions were encouraged and laid down in the first year that continue on down the graded to this year's graduating class, who weren't even in school when Glacier opened.

Many special thanks to my former classmates who helped to jog my memories of some of the more important moments and developments in our years at Glacier High School. All included photos were taken in May-June of 2011.

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Bibliography (for further reading):

Albertson, Kristi. "One cool school." Daily Inter Lake (Kalispell, MT), Aug. 12, 2007. https://dailyinterlake.com/news/2007/aug/12/one-cool-school-6/.

"Glacier High's First Star." Flathead Beacon (Kalispell, MT), Sept. 7, 2007. https://flatheadbeacon.com/2007/09/07/glacier-highs-first-star/.

"High school mascot list narrowed." Daily Inter Lake (Kalispell, MT), Oct. 30, 2005. https://dailyinterlake.com/news/2005/oct/30/high-school-mascot-list-narrowed-6/.

Kimball, Nancy. "Glacier High's mascot quest in Round Two." Daily Inter Lake (Kalispell, MT), Oct. 7, 2005. https://dailyinterlake.com/news/2005/oct/07/glacier-highs-mascot-quest-in-round-two-6/.

Kimball, Nancy. "Help pick mascot for new school." Daily Inter Lake (Kalispell, MT), Sept. 15, 2005. https://dailyinterlake.com/news/2005/sep/15/help-pick-mascot-for-new-school-6/.

"School History." Glacier High School. https://glacier.sd5.k12.mt.us/about-us/school-history.

Tabish, Dillon. "Ten years in the Books." Flathead Beacon (Kalispell, MT), Apr. 19, 2017. https://flatheadbeacon.com/2017/04/19/ten-years-books/.