The top reported proficiency rate is 39% in English language arts. The lowest is 30% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Elder Grove School
Elder Grove School sits on the west side of Billings, serving students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. It is the only elementary school in the Elder Grove Elem district, a small, single-school system within Yellowstone County. The school draws its student body from a largely residential area of Billings, a city that functions as the primary trade, medical, and retail hub for a vast multi-state region and has a history of sustained growth.
The student population at Elder Grove is notably homogeneous. The large majority of students are white, with significantly smaller shares of students who identify as Hispanic, two or more races, or American Indian or Alaska Native. The school is large enough to have multiple sections per grade, with fifth grade being the most populous. About one in five students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate that is well below the national average and reflects the relative affluence of the surrounding community.
State assessment results from the most recent school year provide a mixed picture. In English language arts, just under two out of five students scored at the proficient or above level. In math, the share was closer to three out of ten students. Performance on the state science assessment, which is administered to a narrower grade range, was similar to the English language arts result. When compared to other districts in Yellowstone County, Elder Grove's overall proficiency across tested subjects fell in the bottom quartile. This is a measured performance that places the school behind many of its county peers, and a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand the academic approach and how the school supports students who are not yet meeting proficiency benchmarks.
The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. Data on chronic absenteeism and on the shares of students receiving special education services or identified as English learners were not available in the source data. Information on discipline, course access, and staffing was also not present, so a fuller picture of school climate and resource allocation is not possible from the data at hand.
The housing market in the school's zip code is expensive, with home values well above the national benchmark. Rents in the area have been rising. The broader Yellowstone County market shows a modest decline in median listing prices compared to the prior year, though demand remains elevated and homes are selling relatively quickly. The combination of high home prices and a moderate share of students on free or reduced-price lunch suggests that Elder Grove serves a community that is predominantly middle-income to upper-middle-income, with limited economic diversity within its boundaries.
The district itself is small, and no recent major changes, such as boundary adjustments, leadership turnover, or new programming, were found in publicly reported information. The school's location on the western edge of Billings places it in a part of the city that includes newer residential development. Billings as a whole continues to grow, with the largest population increase of any city in Montana, and the west side has been a focus of new housing construction.
Elder Grove School is a solidly traditional elementary option for families living on Billings' west side. The community is economically stable, the school is moderately sized and well-established, and the setting is suburban within a growing regional city. The academic results on state assessments are a key consideration, as they trail a number of other schools in the same county. A family weighing this school will want to explore the instructional strategies in place and how the school measures progress for students across the performance spectrum.
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