MONTAGUE — The Ava Vanderstelt Foundation presented the Montague High School and NBC Middle School Hope Squad with a $1,500 donation check during Monday's regular meeting of the school board, using funds raised by this summer's Colors for Hope 5K.
Foundation board members Reed Knapp - younger sister of Ava, the foundation's namesake - and Kiley Miller were on hand to present the donation.
Much of the remainder of the board meeting involved discussions of standardized test results in the district from last year, as the results were recently passed along to the district. The high school received results from the SAT and PSAT, while lower grade levels received results from the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA)'s tests, which were administered for the first time in 2025-26.
At the high school level, Montague's scores were above the average for schools in the Muskegon Area Intermediate School District, though below statewide averages. PSAT numbers were stronger for Montague, with the school's current juniors checking in above state averages in both the math and language arts portions of the rest and the current sophomores right in line with state averages.
NWEA results discussion largely focused on grade 5-7, whose scores were noticeably lower than other grades. Elementary school principal Sandie Lundquist said the district is working on ways to motivate students in those grades to want to do well on the test, as it's believed an apathy towards the test is affecting scores. The district is also implementing improvement strategies to help students whose scores indicate they need it. As last school year was the first year these NWEA tests were administered, future results will inform the district's approach.
At the middle school level, principal Stephen Gray showed results of the last few years of standardized testing, which predate his arrival this summer and show consistent performance above county and state averages. Gray said the results reflect well on his predecessor, now-retired Jim Perreault.
The board announced a first reading of new policies from policy firm Neola. Superintendent Jeffrey Johnson noted that due to the sheer volume of the items addressed in this batch of policy updates, the board had not yet been able to complete the first reading, but would continue to go over and discuss them before a required second reading and potential approval, presumably at December's meeting.
Johnson also shared during superintendent comments that while the election results have not yet been finalized, it appears Jen Hain will replace Ben Rupert as a board trustee. He said Rupert would be recognized for his time on the board at December's meeting, at which time the change will be finalized.
