THE NEXT DRIVER'S EDUCATION SESSIONS WILL BE HELD AT GREAT FALLS HIGH SCHOOL and CM RUSSELL HIGH SCHOOL.
REGISTRATION FOR ALL CLASSES WILL BE OPEN
05 JANUARY 2026, 8:00 A.M.

Classes will start 26 JANUARY 2026 and end approximately 13 MARCH 2026. 

REGISTRATION WILL CLOSE 07 JANUARY 2026, 4:00 P.M.

REGISTER FOR DRIVER'S ED HERE

Email confirmations of class placement or non-placement will be sent by:

 7:00 p.m. 09 JANUARY 2026.
*Please monitor your spam and junk mail so you don’t miss the emails.
*Please call Jodi Hicks at 406-771-5103 if you DO NOT receive an email by that date.

**DO NOT make payment for a class until your student is offered a seat into a class. You will receive class placement and payment notification via email after registration closes.
Questions? Please contact: jodi_hicks@gfps.k12.mt.us

• WINTER 2026 Class – Registration will open 05 January 2026 at 8 a.m. and close on 07 January 2026 at 4:00 p.m.. 
• Age Requirements:   Students must be 14 years and 6 months old. Students must be born on or before 26 July 2011  .
• Student placement into classes is sorted oldest to youngest with age verified prior to parent email notification.
• Cost for the Driver's Ed. program is $250.00 

Available seats for Drivers Education may be limited at times during the year.  The procedure for placement of students into classes is outlined below.

1. Ranked by birth date.  Oldest students have preference for class placement.
2. Once ordered by birth date, students are placed into classes using their class preference until classes are full.
3. Students who are not placed into a class because of limited available space, will be notified through the parent email and placed on the waitlist. The waitlist is ordered by age - oldest to youngest.
4. Students failing to pay ($250) for the class by the deadline will be removed from the class. Students (ordered by age) on the waitlist will be offered a seat in the class (ordered by birth date).

Requirements for class once a seat is offered into a current session:

Mandatory Parent/Student Meeting
Parent/guardian is REQUIRED to attend the meeting prior to the start of each class. Failure to attend the MANDATORY Parent meeting or make arrangements prior to the MANDATORY Parent meeting will result in your student losing their seat in class and that seat being filled with the next student from the waitlist. Parent/guardian is REQUIRED to bring the following items to the MANDATORY meeting:

• a parent/guardian driver’s license
• a black ink pen
• student’s birth certificate or passport; and
• student’s social security card or Montana ID

The two forms of Student ID must be originals or certified copies of documents.  Students may not start the class without these documents.

TO SECURE A SEAT IN CLASS AND BEFORE MANDATORY PARENT/STUDENT MEETING:  Payment ($250.00) must be made by credit card, debit card, (pay at central reception at the District Office Building, 1100 4th Street South) cash or check  (pay at the high school finance office - checks made out to GFPS, "Driver's Ed." in the memo line).  No refunds  given after a class begins.

42 Hours of Classroom Instruction
Annually, classes are offered at CM Russell High School, Great Falls High School and the Paris Gibson Education Center.  Students may register for a class at any school, but a parent is responsible for transportation to the school where class is being held. Classes are after school 4-5 times per week-most instructors do not have classes on Wednesday due to the early out time. Summer class times vary during the day.  The individual instructors set their own schedules for each session; no two schedules are ever the same.

Attendance:
Students can only miss a maximum of 4.5 hours of classroom time. If a student misses more than 4.5 hours of classroom time that student will be dropped from the course.  No refunds  given after a class begins.

Students can only miss one drive. A student will be dropped if he/she misses two (2) scheduled drives. No refunds  given after a class begins.

Students are required to make-up hours & homework as assigned by the instructor to successfully complete the class. Completing make-up work does not excuse the absence. 

Since class attendance is mandatory, please take into consideration your family/student schedule  (sports, vacations, jobs, etc.).  The third absence is an automatic “unsuccessful” for the entire class. No refunds  given after a class begins.

12 Hours of Driving Observation
Students will drive 12 times either after school or on weekends. Students can only miss one drive. A student will be dropped if he/she misses two (2) scheduled drives. 

Driving time is scheduled by the instructor. 

Great Falls Public Schools will provide the Driver’s Education car.

Students will drive in groups of three. When students are not driving, students are completing the state required 12 hours of observation time. During this time, students should be paying attention to the driver and the instructor's comments.

Cell Phones are not allowed during driving or observation time. Cell Phones will be kept in the trunk of the car.

6 Hours of Road Instruction
Driving time is scheduled by the instructor. 

Great Falls Public Schools will provide the Driver’s Education car.

Traffic/Driver’s Education classes are not part of the school district curriculum.
Adult driver’s education is offered through the GFPS Career and College Readiness Center. Students who have graduated and are 18 years old and above may take the Adult Driver's Ed program. More information can be found by contacting Jodi Hicks, jodi_hicks@gfps.k12.mt.us.

For Instructors Interested in Teaching Driver’s Education
To teach traffic education in Montana’s public schools, teachers must have an active Montana educator’s license, an acceptable driving record, and at least 8 semester credits in initial traffic education coursework taken at Montana State University-Northern.

If you have questions, please contact Jodi Hicks at jodi_hicks@gfps.k12.mt.us.