The top reported proficiency rate is 0% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Grass Range School
Grass Range School serves pre-kindergarten through sixth grade in a tiny ranching crossroads town in central Montana. The school is part of the Grass Range Elem district, and it is the only school in that district. The town itself sits at the junction of two state highways and one U.S. highway, and the surrounding economy is built on cattle ranching and dryland wheat and barley farming. Most residents make a trip to Lewistown for extensive shopping and services. The population has declined over recent decades, and the town is described in publicly reported accounts as an aging community with limited in-migration and no identified growth initiatives.
The school is very small, with an enrollment that reflects the size of the community it serves. The student body is predominantly white, and a substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The grade band stops at sixth grade, which means there is no state-reported graduation rate and no high school accountability measures. For a family considering this school, the next step after sixth grade would be a separate arrangement, likely in Lewistown or another nearby community.
State assessment data for math and English language arts is reported but shows no students scoring at the proficient level. Because the school is very small, these results come from a very small tested population, and a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand the classroom context and how instruction is tailored to the students they serve. Science testing data was suppressed for privacy reasons, which is common when a tested group is extremely small. The school’s overall proficiency index, compared to other districts in Fergus County, placed in the bottom quartile. The comparison set is limited — only two districts in the county had proficiency data available — so the positioning should be read with that narrow field in mind.
The school environment and access data do not include information on discipline, course access, staffing, or attendance. Those gaps often reflect the nature of a very small rural school that may not report all categories in the same way a larger entity does. The district itself shows no evidence of recent referenda, curriculum changes, or property tax shifts in publicly available records.
Housing values in the area are below the state benchmark but above the national benchmark. The national unemployment rate and median household income provide a general economic backdrop, but the town’s own median household income is very low and its poverty rate is high per publicly reported estimates. The town has minimal infrastructure — no public library, no public transit, and a built environment that consists of a few blocks of buildings along the highway corridor, a grain elevator, a post office, a Masonic hall, a church, and a park. The school sits within a few blocks of the town’s commercial establishments, and everything is integrated into the small crossroads.
This is a school for a family that wants a very small, rural setting where the school is part of a tight-knit, economically modest community. The academic data is sparse and weak where it exists. The peer group is very small, and the pathway beyond sixth grade will require planning for a transition to another district. The school has no high school programs to evaluate, no graduation rate to consider, and no test results that show strong proficiency. A parent considering this school should expect to engage directly with the staff to understand the quality of instruction and the supports available for students whose families face economic challenges.
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