With a scalpel and a pair of tweezers in hand, 8-year-old Nate Crowley cut into the semi-frozen perch during a gifted-and-talented class at Ray Bjork School.

This was the first time he'd ever dissected anything, but he hopes it won't be his last.

"It's fun because you get to see inside it," Crowley said.

It was a different fish experience than reeling one in from the Missouri River, the Jefferson Elementary third-grader said.

The scales, fins, and gills lesson is just one of the activities happening this week at Ray Bjork.

The Helena School District relocated several student programs to the part of the building that has been vacant for several years. Promoting Enriching Activities for Kids, the special education preschool, Network for Educational Transitions and a Head Start program now use the classrooms and gymnasium in the south wing of the building.

The north wing of the school is leased to the state of Montana to provide child care services for employees.

"The motivation for the placement in the new location varied by each one," said Bruce Messinger, superintendent for Helena Public Schools.

The gifted and talented program operated out of Nelson Stadium at Carroll College for the past several years. Last winter Carroll informed the school district it needed the space.

The space at Ray Bjork seemed to fit nicely and meet the needs of students and staff in that program, Messinger said.

The number of students in the Rocky Mountain Development Council's Head Start program and those needing special education preschool services has increased; therefore the space at the Neighborhood Center became inadequate. Messinger said the space at Ray Bjork provides an excellent location for these programs.

"It was a natural alliance that had made sense for years," Messinger said.

Some of the children use both programs, so separating them could be problematic, said Patty Dahl, Head Start director.

Children need a continuum of service and in one building where it's contained, she said.

Because some space was freed up, the Head Start program that was on Main Street in East Helena was relocated to the Neighborhood Center for financial reasons, Dahl said.

It's less expensive to operate the program out of the primary location, she explained.

The final program to be placed at Ray Bjork School is the Network for Educational Transitions middle school level program. NET provides alterative placement for students who need additional support and assistance to increase their success in middle school.

NET was housed in the Front Street Learning Center until this fall, but Messinger said that wasn't ideal because they were

isolated.

"It wasn't a school environment where they are around students," he said. "(Ray Bjork) is clearly better."

Jane McDonald, site administrator, said the diverse and unique program housed in one building has created a sense of camaraderie.

"All of the sudden these programs feel like they have a home and identity," she said.

Reporter Alana Listoe: 447-4081 or alana.listoe@helenair.com