The top reported proficiency rate is 0% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Plenty Coups High School
Plenty Coups High School serves grades nine through twelve in Pryor, a small, rural census-designated place on the Crow Indian Reservation in Big Horn County. The community is overwhelmingly Native American, with a texture of scattered homes and ranches along Pryor Creek, no downtown core, and no sidewalk network. Travel is by private vehicle on country roads. The school is the high school within the Plenty Coups H S district, which also includes Arrow Creek Elementary and Plenty Coups Jr./Sr. High School.
The student body is small and entirely Native American. Every student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic context of the reservation community. The school serves grades nine through twelve, and the enrollment is distributed roughly evenly across the four grade levels.
State testing data for the 2023-24 school year shows a proficiency rate of zero percent in math, English language arts, and science. The number of students tested was also zero. This is an unusual pattern. A parent may want to ask the school directly about how state assessments are administered, whether students participate in the Smarter Balanced and Montana Science assessments, and what the school’s approach to academic measurement looks like. Because the school is small and serves a high school grade band, the absence of tested students could reflect a local decision about assessment participation, but the data provided does not explain the reason.
The school’s overall proficiency index, which averages reported proficiency rates across tested subjects and grades, places it in the bottom quartile relative to districts in Big Horn County. That comparison set includes nine districts, and the index was calculated from two districts that had reported data. The school’s value was zero, while the cohort median was low as well, so the comparison is among a small number of districts with available data.
The school is not a charter school. Information on magnet status, Title I status, discipline, course access, staffing, and attendance was not available in the data provided. No graduation rate was reported, so that metric could not be included in the county comparison. The district brief turned up no recent parent-relevant policy changes.
Pryor itself is a place of deep cultural and historical significance. Chief Plenty Coups State Park, located within the community, honors the last traditional tribal chief of the Apsáalooke people. The Pryor Mountains Wild Horse Range lies to the south. The community is experiencing a slight population decline, and the housing stock is minimal. There is no commercial district, and the economic base is agriculture and public-sector employment through the Crow Tribe and the school district.
For a family considering Plenty Coups High School, the picture is one of a very small, rural, tribally connected school serving a student body that is entirely Native American and entirely low-income. The academic performance data is essentially absent from the state reporting system, which makes it difficult to gauge typical outcomes from the available metrics. The school’s size means students would know one another and their teachers well. The setting is deeply rural, with no walkable amenities and a long drive to any larger town. A family would want to speak directly with the school about its curriculum, graduation requirements, postsecondary pathways, and how it supports students in a context where the standard state assessment data does not provide a picture of student learning.
See more original research from School Decision →