The top reported proficiency rate is 71% in Science. The lowest is 38% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Broadus School
Broadus School sits at the center of a very small, isolated ranching town in southeastern Montana that calls itself the “Cowboy Capital of Montana.” The school serves students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade and is part of the Broadus Elementary district. The town itself, the county seat of Powder River County, has a tiny population and minimal growth; oil and gas production from the Belle Creek Oil Field, along with county government and the school system itself, anchor the local economy. The nearest hospital is roughly a long drive away in Miles City, and the nearest major trauma center is farther still in Billings, so the area is genuinely remote.
The student body, based on the most recent data, is predominantly white and the school is small for its grade band. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Enrollment is spread fairly evenly across kindergarten through sixth grade, with just a couple of pre-kindergarten children. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not reported, a gap that may reflect the school's size or reporting practices; a family with a child who receives special education services would want to ask the school directly about what supports are available.
State testing results from the most recent year show a mixed picture. In math, a little less than half of tested students scored at the proficient or advanced level. In English language arts, the proficiency rate was lower, at just under two-fifths of students. Science results were notably stronger, with a clear majority of the small group of test-takers reaching proficiency. That science performance is a bright spot, but the sample size was quite small. The school has no graduation rate, of course, because it does not serve high school grades. A comparison with other districts in Powder River County was not possible due to the small number of districts in the county, so families should be cautious about reading too much into these numbers relative to nearby schools.
The school's program offerings were not included in the available data. Nothing was reported about course access, extracurricular activities, staffing levels, or discipline rates. This is a significant gap for anyone trying to understand what a typical day or year looks like at Broadus School. A parent considering this school would need to visit and ask about offerings directly. The district's own recent changes, such as referendums or curriculum shifts, also did not surface in the search, so the district appears to have been operating without major parent-facing upheaval in recent years.
The housing context in Broadus reflects a stable but not booming market. Home values in the area are well below the state benchmark, which suggests that housing is more attainable here than in much of Montana. The typical mortgage payment on a median-priced home is estimated to be noticeably lower than the cost of renting in the broader national context, which may appeal to families looking to buy. The local economy, built around ranching and energy, does not appear to be generating rapid job or population growth, so the community is likely to feel consistent from year to year.
For a family that values a very small, rural school in a tight-knit, ranching community where children know their classmates from kindergarten through sixth grade, Broadus School fits that description. The academic results point to areas of challenge in reading and math, and the lack of publicly available detail on programs and staffing means a family would need to do their own digging. The absence of high school grades at this building means parents will need to plan for what comes next, though the district does operate a junior high and high school within town. This is a setting where the school is inseparable from the community, and where the trade-offs of isolation and small scale are front and center.
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