TEN SLEEP -- Giggling, laughing, joking, teasing, talking.

Traditional classroom rules prohibit those behaviors, but teacher Sarah Novak allows them.

The 10 students in her seventh-grade math class did all of the above as they calculated mean, median and mode. They talked, but every sentence was about math.

"Because of the casual atmosphere, I'm able to help," Novak said. "They enjoy their classmates and enjoy being here."

The trend toward individual curriculum reverses. Before Novak came to Ten Sleep in 2008, students learned math in independent studies. She inherited students in geometry who had mixed knowledge in the prerequisite algebra class. Novak got rid of the desks and moved in tables. Her students work in groups of two, three or four, and she moves about the room, stopping when help is needed.

Almost all of the students tested proficient or advanced on the math portion of the Proficiency Assessment for Wyoming Students, or PAWS.

Novak and the rest of the teachers at Ten Sleep are certified to teach all grades -- they have to be, because they teach all grades. Core academic classes and electives such as welding, agriculture and computer design are offered, but usually only at one time each day. That makes scheduling a difficult task, said Jerry Erdahl, superintendent and past principal.

Classes average 10 students, but it's not uncommon to have fewer. Novak has one student in her advanced math class this semester.

"Kids don't slip through the cracks here," Erdahl said. "We don't like that."

The district's 100 percent graduation rate is impressive but not impossible when the senior class rarely reaches 10 students. To protect student confidentiality, scores are not reported when the group has five or fewer students. In the areas reported, the students perform well on state standardized tests -- 80 scored percent proficient or advanced in half of the areas tested.

It’s easy to say the district does well because it's so small. But being small comes at a price that increased when Ten Sleep lost its small-school state funding adjustment. The track team practices on an asphalt track, traveling to Worland to use the rubberized track. Erdahl wishes the school could offer more courses. The business teacher left, so the subject can't be offered until another teacher earns certification to teach it.

Many hats

On the other side of the six-man football field, five teachers make their homes in a row of houses owned by the school district. The principal lives in another house a few blocks from the school. Ten Sleep might have grown, but construction hasn't. It's not much, but it's better than commuting 26 miles from Worland, Erdahl said.

Most of the staff members have been at the school less than 10 years. When Erdahl started in 2005, most of the teachers had been there for more than 20 years. Since then, many have retired, creating the split between staff members working 10 years and those under four years.

"It's not like anything went wrong -- we just happened to have turnover," Erdahl said. "I hope these teachers stick around, and I think they will."

In a small school, everyone wears several hats. The district's one instructional facilitator also coordinates the school's progress testing, acts as the National Education Association representative and collects the district's body of evidence, examples that demonstrate proficiency at the 11th-grade level in several areas. Teachers have to be certified to teach all grades because in many cases, they do.

The art teacher and the music teacher are two examples. Art teacher Dusty Stephenson likes the small-school atmosphere, likes having six students in a class sometimes, likes teaching first-graders one period and high school seniors the next.

"It puts you in a whole different state of mind, which is good -- sometimes," Stephenson said.

Teachers give a lot of their own time, said Jean Peterson, principal at Ten Sleep. They donate materials for projects. They fill in for other teachers. They attend football and basketball games.

They even go to school at night. The school holds "Lights out, lights on at school" nights a few times a year. Students bring their families to the school for a few hours of educational yet fun activities. The night begins with a communal dinner. Families choose what activities they want to do, ranging from a reading room where parents can read to their children and vice versa, to building science models with food.

The turnout averages close to 100 percent, said Peterson, who moved from Cody this year to take the principal job. Cody and other places in the state have a lot of community involvement, she said, but not like it is in Ten Sleep.

Community as family

Red, white and blue garlands sparkled under the fluorescent gym lights.

About 20 military veterans sat in folding chairs on the floor in front of a set of risers and music stands. Elementary students sang patriotic songs, only stopping to give the veterans artwork they had made.

The school's annual Veterans Day assembly draws a large number of vets for such a small town. Locals talked about the assembly over cups of coffee in the town's restaurant and the convenience store that morning. Several of them walked a couple of blocks to watch. Teachers brought dishes for a potluck lunch. Students practiced songs for weeks and dressed in colors of the flag.

Before the assembly, a high school student gave a little Girl Scout a high-five and wished her luck in the flag ceremony. The two weren't related by blood, but were paired in the school's "Big Pioneer/Little Pioneer" program. Elementary students are matched with junior high or high school students, and all but a handful of students participate.

Big and little pioneers hang out during monthly school activities. In October they painted pumpkins. Big pioneers walk across the building to read to little pioneers. The younger kids have mentors and the older kids behave differently, knowing their little pioneers might be watching.

"As far as discipline issues, we have none," Erdahl said.

The closeness can be too much. The entire school can't do everything together, because each level of students needs its own idendity, Erdahl said. Junior high students have the Sadie Hawkins Day dance. High school students have prom. Elementary students have the Halloween parade. But even then, Peterson said, the rest of the school comes out to watch and cheer as they show off their costumes.

No one tells them to come -- they just do.

Reach education reporter Jackie Borchardt at (307) 266-0593 or at jackie.borchardt@trib.com. Read her education blog at tribtown.trib.com/reportcard

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