Grants from the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation and Challenge Fund grants from State Farm Insurance help lower dropout rates at Bitterroot Valley schools

Three Ravalli County school districts recently received substantial grants through the Montana Office of Public Instruction’s "Graduation Matters" program.

The Corvallis, Hamilton and Stevensville school districts each received money, which originally came from the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation and Challenge Fund grants from State Farm Insurance, to help support various programs aimed at improving the graduation rates.

The Graduation Matters Stevensville program received $8,000, and high school principal Brian Gum said the school has set a goal of reducing the dropout rate to 2 percent and reducing the number of students who are credit-deficient to 10 students.

By David Erickson

Full Story: http://www.ravallirepublic.com/news/local/education/article_445a3f50-a313-11e2-af81-0019bb2963f4.html