The top reported proficiency rate is 33% in English language arts. The lowest is 0% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Gold Creek School
Gold Creek School is a closed school. The Gold Creek Elementary School District permanently dissolved in 2024 after more than a century of operation, and the school building and its assets were absorbed by the neighboring Garrison School District. Any discussion of this school is therefore a discussion of a place that no longer serves students.
The school was located in Gold Creek, an extremely small unincorporated ranching community in Powell County, Montana, along the Clark Fork River Valley. As of the 2020 census, the census-designated place had a population of nine. The University of Montana describes it as a quiet ranching community with descendants of some of the original settlers still in residence. The built environment consists of a post office, a deli and store, an old brick Milwaukee Railroad building, a historic schoolhouse, and St. Mary's Mission Catholic Church, all scattered along the road near the I-90 exit. There is no walkable downtown, no commercial main street, and no pedestrian infrastructure. The Clark Fork River and the surrounding Flint Creek Range peaks define the landscape. No major employers exist; ranching and a few small businesses are the primary economic activity. The community has never had a population much above fifty, even at its historical peak.
Gold Creek School served grades M through M, which in Montana's coding system means a multi-grade configuration, and the school was a two-room schoolhouse that historically served kindergarten through sixth grade. The school finished the 2022 school year with a very small number of students. The next year, it did not reopen. The district entered non-operational status in 2022 when enrollment dropped to zero, and after the three-year period mandated by Montana state law, the district officially dissolved on June 30, 2024. The school's boundaries, funds, and assets—including the building, books, and bus—were absorbed by the neighboring Garrison School District effective July 1, 2024. Families in the Gold Creek area now attend schools within the Garrison School District.
State testing data from the 2021-22 school year is available but reflects a school with only three students tested. In math, none of the three students scored at the proficient level. In English language arts, one of the three students scored proficient. Science testing data was not reported. These results come from a tiny cohort and do not provide a reliable picture of academic performance for a typical school. The school's enrollment had already dropped to a very small number by its final year of operation, and it did not reopen the following year.
Because the school is closed, there is no current enrollment, no student demographics, no graduation rate, no program offerings, and no civil rights data to report. The school had no charter or magnet status. The comparison fact-set that would position this school relative to other districts in Powell County could not be applied because the cohort was too small.
For a parent or resident reading this today, the relevant fact is that Gold Creek School no longer exists as an educational option. The Gold Creek Elementary School District has dissolved, and its territory and assets have been absorbed by the Garrison School District. Any family living in the Gold Creek area now sends their children to schools within the Garrison district. The historic school building remains as a structure in the community, but it no longer houses a school.
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