The top reported proficiency rate is 44% in Science. The lowest is 27% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Broadus 7-8
Broadus 7-8 is a small rural school in southeastern Montana that serves only seventh and eighth grade. It is part of the Broadus Elem district, which houses all grades within the town of Broadus. The school sits in Powder River County, a remote ranching and energy-extraction area where the town functions as a county seat and a hub for surrounding grazing lands. The community calls itself “The Cowboy Capital of Montana,” and the local economy blends ranching with oil and gas production from the nearby Belle Creek Oil Field. Growth is very slow, and the town remains small and stable, with limited new development. Housing values in the area sit well below state and national benchmarks, and the estimated monthly mortgage on a typical home here is significantly less than the national rent-to-income standard, making the area relatively affordable by wider measures.
The student body is small, composed of roughly three dozen students. The racial and ethnic composition is predominantly white, with small numbers of Hispanic students and students identifying as two or more races; the data showed no students from other racial or ethnic groups enrolled. Slightly under half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a common indicator of economic need.
Academically, the school administers the state’s Smarter Balanced assessments in math and English language arts, and the Montana Science Assessment in science. On the most recent testing, a little over a quarter of students scored proficient or above in math. In English language arts, the rate was higher, with a little over a third reaching that benchmark. Science proficiency was the strongest of the three measured subjects, with a share approaching half of tested students meeting the bar. These results represent a single year’s snapshot, and the small number of tested students means that individual year-to-year fluctuations can be large. No multi-year trend data was available, so a parent cannot see whether performance is improving or declining over time from this data set.
Because this school serves only two grades, there is no graduation rate, no college-credit or career pathway program data, and no chronic absenteeism or discipline figures in the provided information. The school also does not report data on students with individualized education plans or English learners. The comparison fact-set for Powder River County’s districts had too few entities to produce a meaningful ranking, so there is no position relative to neighboring districts. A parent wanting to understand how this school’s results compare to others in the county would need to look further on their own.
The district’s records show no recent parent-relevant changes such as referendums, curriculum shifts, or property tax adjustments. The town itself has a sparse street grid, a few annual community events, and civic anchors such as a public library and a historical museum. The built environment is rural, and the school is located in the center of town, effectively integrated into the community rather than set apart on a large campus.
This school suits a family looking for a very small, rural setting where the middle school grades are contained in a standalone building in a town with limited commercial and cultural options but a strong ranching-and-oil identity. The academic picture is mixed, with science scoring the strongest and math lagging, and the numbers come from a small cohort, so they should be read with that context in mind. A parent who values having a direct line to teachers and a school that is the center of a tight-knit town may find this a natural fit. A parent seeking broad course options, extracurricular variety, or robust comparative data will find that information is simply not available here.
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