The top reported proficiency rate is 63% in English language arts. The lowest is 55% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Irving School
Irving School serves Bozeman families with children in prekindergarten through fifth grade and is one of the elementary buildings in the Bozeman Elem district. The school is located on West Alderson Street, placing it in a residential part of the city. Bozeman itself is a fast-growing city in southwestern Montana, anchored by Montana State University, a walkable downtown, a growing high-tech sector, and outdoor recreation that is central to the area's identity. The housing market is expensive, with home values well above national and state benchmarks, and rents are high. The district is responding to enrollment pressure: the school board approved a levy increase to fund a new elementary school on the west side of Bozeman that is set to open in the fall of 2025, and it also adopted new attendance boundaries to relieve overcrowding. For any family moving into the district, these boundary changes and the lasting property tax increase are material factors.
Irving School enrolls about 180 students, which is a small elementary school. Its student body is predominantly white, with a substantial Hispanic share and a noticeable American Indian or Alaska Native presence. About one in six students qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a moderate rate for an elementary school in this region. Data on the share of students with an individualized education program or who are English learners was not available; a parent may want to ask the school directly about its special education and language support services.
State testing data from the most recent available school year shows that Irving School performed above the midpoint among districts in Gallatin County on overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades. In English language arts, a solid majority of students met the state's proficiency standard. In math, a smaller majority reached that level. Science results, which come from a smaller tested group of students, showed a similar pattern with a modest majority proficient. These are solid outcomes for a public elementary school, and they suggest that the core academic program is functioning well for most students. Because the school serves only through fifth grade, there is no graduation rate to report.
The school is not a charter or magnet school. It operates as a regular neighborhood public school within the Bozeman Elem district, which means attendance is determined by the district's boundaries. With the new attendance zones being implemented as Elementary School #8 comes online, a family's eligibility for Irving School may depend on their specific address. The school is a Title I school, but no additional details about its Title I status or how those resources are used were available in the data.
Given the school's size, families can expect a setting where most staff and students know each other. The combination of strong academic results, a modest free-lunch rate, and Bozeman's expensive housing market paints a picture of a school serving a largely resource-advantaged population with some economic diversity. For a family looking at Bozeman's west side, Irving School stands out for its consistent proficiency rates, but the most practical next step is to confirm the attendance boundary given the district's recent changes.
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