The reported proficiency rate for Science is 0%.
Original Research by School Decision on Belfry 7-8
Belfry 7-8 is a very small school in rural southern Montana, serving only seventh and eighth graders as part of the Belfry K-12 Schools district. The entire school enrolled about a dozen students, with a roughly even split between the two grades. The student body is overwhelmingly white, with a single American Indian student; no other racial or ethnic groups were reported in the enrollment data. The school is the middle-grade component of a district that, according to publicly reported information, comprises two buildings—elementary and high school—sited adjacent to each other in the unincorporated community of Belfry. The district overall serves a very small number of students, and this middle school is the smallest of the three grade bands.
The community that feeds the school is a sparsely populated agricultural area in Carbon County, historically anchored by a railroad that went bankrupt decades ago. Primary crops include sugar beets, alfalfa, and feed corn, and ranching is also common. The population has been declining, and the town has no substantial commercial core or major employer beyond farming and the school itself. It is an unincorporated census-designated place with a very low housing density and little walkable street life. For families considering relocation, the housing market in Belfry’s zip code shows home values that are above the national median but below the statewide median for Montana; no rental market data was available. The local economy is limited, and poverty was publicly reported at a notable share of residents. There are no large-scale development projects or growth indicators evident from available records.
Academically, nearly all state testing data for Belfry 7-8 is suppressed, which is typical for a school with such a small tested population. In math and English language arts, the state reported that fewer than a small threshold of students were tested, and proficiency results were withheld to protect student privacy. In science, no students were tested at all, and the reported proficiency rate was zero, though this reflects zero test-takers rather than a failing result. The school’s overall proficiency index, which averages the available rates across subjects, placed it in the bottom quartile relative to the handful of other Carbon County districts that had reported data. However, the comparison is drawn from only four of the county’s ten districts, and the small size of this school makes direct academic comparisons of limited reliability. A parent interested in academic outcomes would need to look further into the school’s own internal assessments or speak with the school directly, as the public data does not provide a clear picture.
No information was available on the share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, students with disabilities, or English learners. Similarly, data on discipline, course access, staffing ratios, and chronic absenteeism were not reported for this school. The district brief indicated no recent parent-relevant changes—no new programs, boundary adjustments, or leadership transitions were found in publicly available records.
Because the school serves only two grades, there is no graduation rate, and no data on college or career readiness pathways such as Advanced Placement or dual credit. The school does not appear to offer specialized programs or magnet themes, and it is not a charter school. Its Title I status was not reported.
For a family, Belfry 7-8 represents a very small, rural educational setting where the peer group is tiny and the community is tight-knit but economically constrained. The academic picture is largely opaque from state data, and the school’s size means that any single student’s performance can significantly sway the reported results. Parents who value individualized attention and a close community may find this school appealing, but those seeking robust data on achievement, programming, or student services will find little to review from the available public sources. The lack of growth or new development in the area suggests a stable but contracting community, which may be a consideration for families weighing long-term prospects.
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