Editing Missoula, Montana (section)

==Education==
{{See also|University of Montana}}
[[File:UofMT University(Main)Hall.jpg|thumb|The [[University of Montana]] campus, showing [[Mount Sentinel]] with {{nowrap|[[Mount Sentinel#The "M"|The M]] logo}}]]
Missoula's first school was opened in late 1869 with 16 students from around the region and their teacher Emma C. Slack, who had come to Missoula by a two-month trip by horseback, railroad, and boat from [[Baltimore]] at the invitation of her brother. She resigned two years later upon marrying {{nowrap|William H. H. Dickinson}} (the first couple married in Missoula) and was replaced by Elizabeth Countryman, who later married Missoula's first mayor, {{nowrap|[[Frank H. Woody]].<ref name="FortMissoulaMuseum">{{cite web |url=http://fortmissoulamuseum.org/minutes.php |title=Missoula History Minutes |publisher=The Historical Museum at Fort Missoula |access-date=August 23, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150201134643/http://fortmissoulamuseum.org/minutes.php |archive-date=February 1, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv19840#bioghistID |title=Guide to the William H. H. and Emma Dickinson Papers 1823–1908 |website=Archives West |access-date=August 9, 2015 |publisher=Orbis Cascade Alliance |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150809174302/http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark%3A/80444/xv19840 |archive-date=August 9, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>}} The first public high school was opened in 1904, but was converted back to a grade school after the {{nowrap|[[A.J. Gibson (architect)|A. J. Gibson]]-designed}} Missoula County High School (now [[Hellgate High School]]) was opened in 1908.<ref name="Briggeman 2008">{{cite news |last=Briggeman |first=Kim |date=September 28, 2008 |title=Hallowed halls: Missoula high school celebrates 100 years and two names |url=http://missoulian.com/article_3ad379a0-abb0-53d4-be2a-f4edefdacfc8.html |newspaper=Missoulian |issn=0746-4495 |location=Missoula |access-date=August 25, 2015 |archive-date=September 15, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170915101337/http://missoulian.com/article_3ad379a0-abb0-53d4-be2a-f4edefdacfc8.html}}</ref> After several expansions, Stanford University was commissioned in 1951 to create a master building plan to manage future growth. It suggested purchasing land and building an additional campus at the Garden City Airport's Hale Field, which was gradually being replaced by the [[Missoula International Airport|Missoula County Airport]], which was then southwest of town. The new school (now [[Sentinel High School]]) was opened in 1957. Initially, the two campuses were separated between upper and lower classmen with upper classmen in the new school, but in 1965, the two campuses became separate high schools.<ref name="Briggeman 2008"/> In 1974, the private [[Loyola Sacred Heart Catholic High School]] was created from a merger of the all-girls Sacred Heart Academy ({{abbr|est|established}}.{{nbsp}}1873) and the all-boys Loyola High School ({{abbr|est|established}}.{{nbsp}}1912).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://missoulacatholicschools.org/wp-content/uploads/LSH-Student-Handbook.pdf#page=6 |title=Loyola Sacred Heart: Student–Parent Handbook |date=2011 |publisher=Loyola Sacred Heart Catholic High School |page=6 |format=PDF |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150825194019/http://missoulacatholicschools.org/wp-content/uploads/LSH-Student-Handbook.pdf#page=6 |archive-date=August 25, 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1980, Missoula's third public high school, [[Big Sky High School|Big Sky]], was established.<ref name="Cohen 2008">{{cite book |last=Cohen |first=Stan |title=Missoula |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3tWFQIXg7fIC&pg=PA31 |series=Postcard History Series |date=2008 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |location=Charleston, South Carolina |isbn=978-0-7385-5888-2 |page=31 |chapter=Buildings, Schools, Churches, Hospitals, and Homes |lccn=2008928325 |oclc=232130700 |quote=Missoula's third public high school, [[Big Sky High School|Big Sky]], was opened in 1980. |access-date=August 28, 2015 |archive-date=September 4, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904113534/https://books.google.com/books?id=3tWFQIXg7fIC&pg=PA31 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Missoula County Public Schools]] has two components: Missoula Elementary School District and Missoula High School District.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://apps.opi.mt.gov/SchoolDirectory/frmdirectorydistrictpdf.aspx|title=Directory of Montana Schools|publisher=[[Montana Office of Public Instruction]]|date=2024-03-13|access-date=2024-03-13|pages=191–193/319}}</ref> The city of Missoula is divided between the following elementary school districts: Most of Missoula is in Missoula Elementary School District<!--ELM 18570--> while other portions are in [[Hellgate Elementary School District]],<!--ELM 13860--> [[DeSmet Elementary School District]],<!--ELM 08880--> [[Target Range Elementary School District]]<!--ELM 25890-->, and [[Bonner Elementary School District]]<!--ELM 04260-->. All residents are in the Missoula High School District<!--SEC 18540-->.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st30_mt/schooldistrict_maps/c30063_missoula/DC20SD_C30063.pdf|title=2020 census - school district reference map: Missoula County, MT|publisher=[[U.S. Census Bureau]]|access-date=2024-03-13}}</ref> The school district numbers of the districts are {{nowrap|districts 1 (Missoula), 4 (Hellgate), 20 (DeSmet), and 23 (Target Range).<ref name="MCPS">{{cite web |url=http://co.missoula.mt.us/supschools/SchoolAdmins/ |title=Missoula County Administrators |publisher=County of Missoula |date=September 2014 |access-date=August 10, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150810182811/http://co.missoula.mt.us/supschools/SchoolAdmins |archive-date=August 10, 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref>}} In Missoula, there are nine public elementary schools (kindergarten to 5th grade), three public middle schools (6th to 8th grades), four public high schools (9th to 12th grades),<ref name="MCPShighschools">{{cite web |url=http://mcpsmt.org/cms/lib03/MT01001940/Centricity/Domain/880/highschools.pdf |title=School District 1 High Schools: High School Attendance Boundaries in the Missoula Urban Area |publisher=Missoula County Public Schools |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150420162845/http://mcpsmt.org/cms/lib03/MT01001940/Centricity/Domain/880/highschools.pdf |archive-date=April 20, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> and three public schools serving kindergarten to 8th grade.<ref name="MCPS"/> Missoula also has several private schools including an international school, religious-affiliated schools, as well as Next Step Prep, a theater academy high school operated by the Missoula Children's Theatre.<ref>{{cite web |title=Missoula County Public Schools |newspaper=Missoulian |issn=0746-4495 |date=March 24, 2014 |url=http://missoulian.com/article_dd04408e-b384-11e3-a433-001a4bcf887a.html |location=Missoula |quote=Next Step Prep is a high-quality, accredited training program run by the Missoula Children's Theatre for students who are considering the performing arts as a major in college or as a career. The school is designed to provide students with the skills they will need for postsecondary studies in the performing arts including acting, singing and dancing. Students entering grades&nbsp;9–12 may apply for this six-week summer session. |archive-date=September 15, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170915102106/http://missoulian.com/article_dd04408e-b384-11e3-a433-001a4bcf887a.html}}</ref>

The University of Montana dominates higher education in Missoula.<ref name="Seninger 1997"/> The university, established in 1893, was Montana's first, and has the state's second-largest enrollment,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?&xp=1&s=MT |format=XLS |title=College Navigator: Montana |publisher=[[National Center for Education Statistics]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904113534/http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?&xp=1&s=MT |archive-date=September 4, 2015}}</ref> with 12,922 students {{as of|2015|lc=y}}.<ref name="enrollment">{{cite news |url=http://news.umt.edu/2015/03/030315enrl.php |title=UM Releases Spring Enrollment Numbers |publisher=University of Montana |date=March 3, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906231529/http://news.umt.edu/2015/03/030315enrl.php |archive-date=September 6, 2015}}</ref> The campus houses six colleges and three schools including Montana's first and only law school, the [[Alexander Blewett&nbsp;III School of Law]]. The university is also the location of the state's [[Federal Depository Library Program|Regional Federal Depository Library]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fdlp.gov/all-newsletters/partnership-showcase/1060-partnership-showcase-mansfield-library-univ-montana |title=Partnership Showcase: Mansfield Library at the University of Montana |date=March 7, 2013 |publisher=Federal Depository Library Program |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150809175753/http://fdlp.gov/all-newsletters/partnership-showcase/1060-partnership-showcase-mansfield-library-univ-montana |archive-date=August 9, 2015 |quote=The Mansfield Library became a Federal depository library in 1909 and the regional depository for Montana in 1965.}}</ref> and houses the state [[Arboretum]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/1/1/1-1-513.htm |title=State Arboretum (MCA § 1-1-513) |date=1995 |website=Montana Code Annotated |publisher=Montana Legislative Services |access-date=August 23, 2015 |quote=The campus of the university of Montana-Missoula, is the state arboretum. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150103072459/http://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/1/1/1-1-513.htm |archive-date=January 3, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> The [[University of Montana College of Technology]], established in 1956 and formerly known as the Missoula Vocational Technical Center, offers fast-track learning programs. Multiple vocational programs not affiliated with the university ranging from photography and massage to truck driving also have a presence in Missoula.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.makeitmissoula.com/community/education/specialty-schools/ |title=Make it Missoula: Specialty Schools |publisher=Make it Missoula |access-date=February 8, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120123204101/http://www.makeitmissoula.com/community/education/specialty-schools/ |archive-date=January 23, 2012}}</ref>

Missoula has a [[public library]], the [[Missoula Public Library]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://publiclibraries.com/state/montana/ | title=Montana Public Libraries | publisher=PublicLibraries.com | access-date=June 14, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190326071427/https://publiclibraries.com/state/montana/ | archive-date=March 26, 2019 | url-status=live }}</ref>