Alternative school opens in Trout Creek

There is a new alternative school in Trout Creek called Mountain Valley Academy. First day of classes was September 5. Alicia Wenz began the school as part of a lifelong dream. She and husband Preston moved to Montana in 2021 from Texas. Preston took the job as principal at the Trout Creek School.

Alicia has a masters degree in curriculum and instruction with an elementary education endorsement. "I wrote my own curriculum for my school that is bible based, not science based. But, it isn't a Christian school," she said.

The school currently has eight students ranging from age 5 to 15, from kindergarten to grade eight. The mascot is the patriots. "We start our day with the pledge of allegiance, then a breakfast snack before beginning our studies," Wenz said. Students work on subjects until lunch and then they have projects that they work on for the rest of the day. The projects are units that include math and reading and writing. Their first project was on the Constitution. It centered around Constitution Day, which is September 17. The week of September 17-23 was Constitution Week. The students learned the first five amendments and made busts of the United States founding fathers. They had a picnic lunch in the Trout Creek park where they presented their projects and recited the preamble and amendments to their parents.

School begins at 9 a.m. and ends at 3 p.m., four days a week. The students have vegetable gardens and animals to take care of. They water the garden and greenhouse plants. There will be ducks, chickens, rabbits, quail, cats, dogs and pigs on their campus. The Wenz's home is currently housing the animals but the academy's location is out of town on Hope Valley Road, Alicia said.

Olivia Waldoch is in first grade. "I like that I have Ms. Wenz for a teacher and I like art and doing crafts," Waldoch said. The other students commented that they like the outdoor activities of gardening and taking care of the animals.

Wenz said the academy students have decorated pine cones to sell at the Trout Creek School Craft Fair on November 4. They also have been working on a quilt raffle as part of a math lesson.