The top reported proficiency rate is 37% in Science. The lowest is 0% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Frontier School
Frontier School serves students from prekindergarten through sixth grade in Wolf Point, a small commercial center for northeastern Montana located on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. The school sits within the Frontier Elem district, which operates this single elementary building for its youngest residents.
The student body is small and predominantly Native American, with a majority of students identifying as American Indian or Alaska Native. White students and students of two or more races each represent a notable share, and small numbers of Asian, Hispanic, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students are also enrolled. Every student at the school qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a measure reflecting the economic circumstances of families in this rural community.
State testing data for math and English language arts was reported for the most recent school year, but no students in tested grades at Frontier School recorded proficient scores in either subject. In science, roughly a third of students met the proficiency standard on the Montana Science Assessment. The school’s overall proficiency index, which averages results across all tested subjects and grades, fell below the midpoint when compared with other districts in Roosevelt County. Because the school serves only primary and intermediate grades, there is no graduation rate to report, and data on chronic absenteeism was not available.
The school itself is integrated into the fabric of Wolf Point rather than set apart on a remote campus. The town’s compact footprint, centered on Main Street and oriented toward US Highway 2, means that civic and commercial destinations are within a few blocks of each other. Wolf Point is the county seat and a trade center for local farmers and ranchers, and it serves as a cultural hub for the Sioux and Assiniboine tribes. Amtrak’s Empire Builder stops daily, and scheduled air service connects the town to Billings and Glasgow. The area’s population has been declining in recent decades, and no major new housing developments or growth initiatives were identified in publicly available sources.
For families considering Frontier School, the picture is one of a small, tightly knit elementary community where all students share a common economic background and where academic performance on state assessments has been low, particularly in reading and math. A parent may want to investigate further what instructional supports and interventions the school offers and how the district approaches academic improvement. The school’s size and setting mean that class groups are small and that students are likely to receive considerable individual attention from staff. The town of Wolf Point, while facing population and economic headwinds, offers a range of civic institutions including a public library, a museum, a community college facility, and annual events such as the Wild Horse Stampede and the Wadopana Pow-wow, which anchor community life.
See more original research from School Decision →