The top reported proficiency rate is 45% in English language arts. The lowest is 36% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Hamilton K-12 Schools
Hamilton K-12 Schools serves the town of Hamilton and surrounding areas of Ravalli County, operating as a single district with five schools: two elementary schools, a middle school, a high school, and a career-technical campus, Bitterroot Polytech, listed as a future addition. The district serves students from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade, with an enrollment that is predominantly white, and a Hispanic population that is present alongside smaller shares of students who are Native American, Black, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, or multiracial. Data on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals, receive special education services, or are English learners were not available.
On state assessments for grades three through eight, overall proficiency across tested subjects sits above the midpoint among Ravalli County’s districts. In math, a little more than two out of every five students scored at the proficient or advanced level. In English language arts, the share was slightly higher, at roughly forty-five percent. For science, from the prior year, the proficiency rate was lower, at about one in three students. These numbers come from a testing year in which Montana changed the name of its assessment and adjusted the cut scores for math and English language arts, meaning the results should be read with that context in mind and are not directly comparable to earlier years. A graduation rate for the district was not available in the data.
Chronic absenteeism, which measures the share of students missing a substantial number of school days, is high. The district’s rate places it below the midpoint among the county’s districts—meaning it has a greater share of chronically absent students than many of its neighbors. Since chronic absenteeism is often linked to academic difficulty and disengagement, a parent may want to ask the district how it monitors attendance and what interventions it offers students who miss school regularly.
Per-pupil current spending sits in the middle range among the county’s districts, on the lower side of that middle range. The district is not an especially high- or low-spending one relative to its peers.
The town of Hamilton is the hub of the district. Housing values in the district, weighted across the main zip codes, run above the state benchmark. A weighted average of home values in the district is higher than Montana’s overall figure, though not dramatically so. The town of Hamilton itself carries the lower value, while the neighboring Corvallis area carries a higher one. Home values in the district have held roughly steady over the past year, with a slight dip. For context, national mortgage rates have been in the low to mid six percent range. Affordability is a moderate stretch; the district’s price-to-income ratio is above the national average, meaning homes take up a larger share of household earnings than is typical nationwide.
A search for recent district-level changes, such as bond measures, boundary adjustments, or program launches, did not turn up much of lasting impact. There was no information found on specific strategic priorities or curriculum shifts. The data does not include information on course access—such as Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, or dual-enrollment offerings—or staffing ratios, which would help a parent gauge the district’s academic depth and class sizes. Those are gaps a family may want to explore directly with the district.
The district’s size and composition give it a small-town feel, with a student body that is overwhelmingly white and a school system that runs from early childhood through high school. It sits in a county where housing is somewhat expensive relative to state norms and where the broader regional economy has shown modest unemployment and steady median income growth nationally. For a family looking at the Bitterroot Valley, this district offers a conventional public school pathway with an upcoming career-technical campus that may expand options beyond the traditional high school. The absenteeism rate is a practical concern, and the middle-band proficiency rates suggest room for the district to improve, particularly in math and science. A parent would likely want to visit the schools, talk to teachers and principals about how they address attendance and academic support, and get a sense of the day-to-day climate before making a decision.
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