The top reported proficiency rate is 16% in English language arts. The lowest is 11% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Box Elder School
Box Elder School serves students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade in the unincorporated rural community of Box Elder, which functions as the administrative headquarters of the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation, home of the Chippewa-Cree Tribe. The school is part of the Box Elder Elem district, and its setting is a sparse, high-plains reservation town with widely spaced structures along U.S. Route 87, a grain elevator, a tribal government center, and a casino. The community is very small, and its economic context is one of limited local employer base and high unemployment.
The student body at this school is overwhelmingly Native American, reflecting the community it serves. Every single student enrolled qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch under federal meal programs, a statistic that signals the concentrated economic need in this community. The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report, and the programs, staffing, and discipline data that would provide a fuller picture of the school environment were not available in the data reviewed.
Academically, state assessment results from the 2023-24 school year show that proficiency rates across tested subjects fall well below state averages. In mathematics, roughly one in ten students met the proficiency standard on the Smarter Balanced Assessment. In English language arts, the proportion was slightly higher, though still low. Science assessment results for that year were suppressed, and the data did not include participation rates for any subject. When placed relative to other districts in Hill County, the school's overall proficiency index sits below the midpoint of the comparison group. A parent should understand these results as reflecting significant academic challenges, and further conversation with the school about its instructional approach, intervention strategies, and recent trends would be warranted.
The school is small, with an enrollment that is modest for the PK-6 grade band. Classes are spread across every grade from kindergarten through sixth, with pre-kindergarten having a very small number of students. No data was available on the number of students receiving special education services or English learner support, which is a notable gap for a family assessing whether the school can meet a child's specific needs.
The community itself is not growing. The population has been volatile but has declined in recent years, and there are no major housing developments or infrastructure expansions reported. Median home values are very low, and housing units are few. Public transit is not present, and the main highway provides the only connection to larger towns such as Havre, which is a drive of many miles to the northeast. There is no public library in Box Elder, and the civic anchors are limited to the post office, tribal council offices, and a rural fire district. Stone Child College, a tribal community college, is located eight miles east.
For a family considering this school, the picture is clear. This is a high-poverty, rural-reservation elementary school serving a nearly all-Native American student body in a community with very limited economic opportunity and infrastructure. Academic proficiency is low relative to state and county peers. The school is the primary educational institution in a small, isolated place, and the district did not appear to have any recent major changes or initiatives reported publicly. A family would want to ask directly about how the school supports students who are behind grade level, what enrichment or intervention programs exist, and what the transition looks like for students moving on to the upper grades in the district.
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