HELENA — It is time to break out the backpacks and spiral notebooks for back-to-school, and things are ramping up for the colleges in Helena as they start within the next two weeks.
"All of us in education love the fall. We get to get back together and have that creative energy flowing again with our students back on campus," said Helena College Dean and CEO Sandra Bauman.
Helena College is preparing for hundreds of students, and the school is holding new student orientations this week on their Donaldson and Airport campuses.
Bauman said, "We want to make sure that on the first day of class, students know each other, they know their instructors, and they've met at least a few other smiling friendly faces so that if they don't know the answer to something, they at least know who to ask."
The fall semester for the school starts next week, but the campus was still active during the summer, serving over 1,000 clients at their salon.
Across town, students have flooded Carroll College's campus as most moved in this past weekend.
MTN asked a few freshmen how their first couple days at the school have been.
"I only know like two people here. It's Pierce and then another kid on the football team, and then other than that, I've had to introduce myself and get to know everybody," said Carroll freshman Bento Reed.
Another freshman, Pierce Davis, said, "It's very welcoming here, and it just feels like home."
Freshman Aurora Brant said, "My sense of direction could be better, but Carroll's pretty small."
Carroll has roughly 340 incoming students who are both first-years and transfers.
Forty-seven percent are from Montana, with 23 other states and nine countries represented.
This is the first year Carroll requires all freshmen, sophomores, and juniors to live on campus.
"Your door is open; people stop by. You meet people in the hallway and ask for directions. People ask you stuff and people just come up to you if you look lost," said Brant.
Carroll is holding orientation activities this week to help the students better know the campus.
Carroll College will kick off the school year with its annual tradition of coffee and muffins with its president on Wednesday, and Helena College will start classes next Monday.
