West Elementary School

08/21/2026

We had a great time exploring math today!

Thank you to our amazing Curriculum Director, Charla Wetsch, for setting up great trainings for our teachers during our PIR time!!! Today we have Laurel Elementary and Intermediate teachers engaged in Striving Mathematicians with Katie Thompson and Whitney Hodges.

08/20/2026

WOW! What an amazing accomplishment! We are so excited to be a part of this program this year! Thank you Big J Show Cares!

What a summer! Our Books For Kids fundraising season started at the beginning of May with Yellowstone Valley Gives and stretched three(ish) months through the first week of August. Thank you to everyone who supported this endeavor. From donating $18 to sponsor a student, parties, puzzles, cribbage, auctions, raffles, and so much more… the Billings community came through BIG for elementary students in our area. Or as our K-5 students would say: “Thanks fam for the sick literature. It’s low key giving charitable. Kinda chic that so many sigma students will get a fresh book each month this year. We can’t wait to read these books and start aura farming from our reading abilities. 😮‍💨🧏🏼‍♂️”

𝐓𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 $𝟐𝟎𝟗,𝟐𝟓𝟔.𝟐𝟔!! That’s over 100,000 books that will be distributed amongst 11,000+ students at 34 schools in our area!! 🥳

Thank you to so many people who made this happen. We will do much more in depth thank you posts in the coming weeks. But for now, THANK YOU! Thank you for supporting our kids. Thank you for your generosity. And as the kids would say “Thanks for helping us with our bookmaxxing, unc!” 📚❤️🫶

08/20/2026

We had a great time seeing everyone at open house! We are looking forward to seeing our kindergarten students for open house on Tuesday! Please take a look at the video about drop off procedures!

08/17/2026

Laurel Community!
We have 2 spots available in our afternoon Kinderboost (preschool) program. If you are interested, please call Laurel Elementary School (LES) at 406-628-3400 to set up a time to have your student screened.

Kinderboost is an early literacy intervention program for kids who are 4 years old (or turn 4 by September 10th). Once students are screened and identified as qualifying for the intervention, we then ask you to go through with the enrollment process.

If we receive more than 2 requests, we will begin to create a waiting list.

Thank you for supporting this great program!
~Bethany Fuchs, LES Principal

08/13/2026

Please help us in welcoming another new teacher to our school! Meet Ms. Nagel!

08/12/2026

We are so excited for school to be starting soon! We just wanted to remind everyone to make sure any new students to the district or any new incoming kindergarteners are registered. If you haven't registered your child, please use the link below to do so as soon as possible! Thank you for your help with this!

https://www.laurel.k12.mt.us/parent/student-enrollment

08/08/2026

Wow, this is awesome! We are looking forward to it! Thanks to The Big J Show Cares and all the sponsors!

📣THIRTY-ONE SCHOOLS FUNDED!!!📣

Thanks to Scheels and their donation for the Locomotives, Books For Kids is now funded for all 775+ students K-5 in Laurel!! Additional funding is thanks to Ace Hardware, Wendy’s, Flex Family Health, and Woods Powr-Grip. We are so excited to welcome Laurel into the Books For Kids family for the 2026-27 school year!!! 📚🫶

📕 Bench Elementary
📘 McKinley Elementary (Sponsored by Hooligan's, Vig Alehouse, Montana Brewing Company, and Diamond X Beer Co.)
📗 Ponderosa Elementary (Sponsored by Ace Hardware)
📕 Central Heights Elementary
📘 Newman Elementary (Sponsored by Wayne Wilcox Century 21 Hometown Brokers)
📗 Sandstone Elementary (Sponsored by First Interstate Bank)
📕 Miles Avenue Elementary (Sponsored by Mountain West Holding Company, Inc.)
📘 Boulder Elementary (Sponsored by The Hall Family)
📗 Big Sky Elementary
📕 Canyon Creek School
📘 Burlington Elementary
📗 Bitterroot Elementary
📕 Rimrock Learning Center
📘 Broadwater Elementary
📗 Rose Park Elementary
📕 Poly Drive Elementary
📘 Highland Elementary (Sponsored by Wendy's)
📗 Meadowlark Elementary
📕 Alkali Creek Elementary
📘 Lockwood Elementary (Sponsored by Bretz RV & Marine and Lockwood Community)
📗 Beartooth Elementary
📕 Orchard Elementary (Sponsored by Phillips 66)
📘 Eagle Cliffs Elementary
📗 Arrowhead Elementary
📕 Luther School (In Memory of Ann Ballard)
📘 Pioneer Elementary (Sponsored by The McLovins)
📗 Columbus Elementary (Sponsored by Sibanye-Stillwater, Montana Silversmiths, and Stillwater County Businesses)
📕 Absarokee Elementary (Sponsored by Sibanye-Stillwater, Montana Silversmiths, and Stillwater County Businesses)
📘 Shepherd Elementary
📗 Elder Grove Elementary
📕 Laurel Elementary (Sponsored by Scheels and Laurel Area Businesses)

Every student at these schools will receive a book each month of the 2026-27 school year.

08/07/2026

Next up, help us welcome one of our new first grade teachers this year. Welcome Miss Green!

08/01/2026

Meet one of our first grade teachers, Mrs. Buie!

07/23/2026

Ready for Back to School? Can't wait!!😍