The top reported proficiency rate is 0% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Frenchtown High School
Frenchtown High School sits on Frontage Road in the unincorporated community of Frenchtown, about a 20-minute drive northwest of Missoula along the I-90 corridor. It is the sole high school in the Frenchtown K-12 Schools district and serves the community's high school students from ninth through twelfth grade.
The school's enrollment is modest for a high school, with just over 400 students spread across the four grade levels in roughly even numbers, suggesting a stable class size from year to year. The student body is predominantly white, with a small number of Hispanic students and a smaller share of students who identify with two or more races; a very small number of American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Black students round out the population. About three in ten students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that falls below the statewide average for free or reduced-price eligibility.
Statewide testing data was not available in a comparable format for this high school, because the state's Smarter Balanced assessments are administered in grades three through eight. High school students in Montana take different exams, and the available records for this school do not include results that could be analyzed here. A parent who wants to understand academic performance at Frenchtown High would need to look at the school's ACT scores, end-of-course exams, or other high school measures directly from the school or district. The comparison with other Missoula County districts, which relies on the proficiency index across tested grades and subjects, places Frenchtown in the bottom quarter of the county, but that index is built from elementary and middle school data and does not directly reflect high school performance.
No graduation rate was available in the data provided, which means a prospective family should ask the school directly about its four-year cohort graduation rate, an important metric at the high school level.
The community of Frenchtown has its own texture. It is a historically rural, unincorporated area along the Clark Fork River that grew rapidly in the early 2000s, more than doubling in population before growth slowed. Today it functions largely as a bedroom community for Missoula, with a highway-oriented layout and no formal downtown. A major economic blow came when the Smurfit-Stone paper mill closed, removing the community's dominant employer and largest taxpayer. The mill site is now under EPA Superfund cleanup, which is an ongoing local concern. The housing market in the Frenchtown ZIP code is expensive compared to national norms, with home values well above the national benchmark.
The school sits in a setting that is auto-dependent, with daily life oriented around the Mullan Road and I-90 corridor. Civic anchors include a Missoula Public Library branch, Frenchtown Pond State Park, and a Catholic church built in an earlier era. The district, Frenchtown K-12 Schools, had no notable recent changes or strategic initiatives reported in available sources.
For a family considering this school, the main considerations are that it serves a small, stable high school population in a rural-residential community that has seen economic transition. The academic picture at the high school level cannot be assessed through the state's main testing program because those tests are not given in these grades. A parent would want to seek out the school's own reports on ACT participation and performance, Advanced Placement or dual-credit offerings, and post-graduation plans of recent graduates. The community's shift away from mill-based employment and toward commuter and service-oriented roles may be relevant context for understanding the school's resources and the local tax base.
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