The top reported proficiency rate is 0% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Lincoln High School
Lincoln High School sits at the center of a small, unincorporated rural community in the Blackfoot River valley, surrounded by wilderness and accessible by a single state highway. The school is the high school arm of Lincoln K-12 Schools, a unified PK-12 district that serves the entire community. With a very small enrollment, the school functions as the community’s anchor for secondary education. The student body is predominantly white, with small numbers of students identifying as two or more races, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Hispanic combined.
Every student at Lincoln High School qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker of the community’s economic profile. The surrounding area has seen slow population decline over recent decades, and the local economy is oriented toward small businesses, outdoor recreation, and tourism, with no major industrial or corporate employers identified. The school itself is likely one of the larger local employers. The texture of the community is rural and frontier-like; daily life requires a vehicle, and basic services are clustered along the highway corridor.
State testing results are not available for Lincoln High School because the school serves only grades nine through twelve, and the state assessment data reported for the school is limited to the grades three through eight testing program, which does not apply to this grade band. As a result, the academic performance data typically used to compare schools is absent here. The comparison that does exist places the school in the bottom quartile for overall proficiency relative to districts in Lewis and Clark County, but that placement is based on the same inapplicable testing data and should not be treated as a meaningful measure of high school academic performance. A parent or resident looking for evidence of academic outcomes at Lincoln High School will find little from standardized tests. The graduation rate, chronic absenteeism rate, and other common accountability metrics are also not reported in the available data. Anyone evaluating the school’s academic strength would need to ask the district directly about graduation rates, postsecondary readiness, and course offerings such as dual enrollment or career and technical education.
The school itself is small enough that the high school’s four grade levels together number only a few dozen students. Class sizes are very small, and the school’s setting means that a student at Lincoln High School will experience an intimate academic environment, where teachers and students likely know one another well. The lack of state test scores may reflect the reality that many very small high schools in remote areas are not routinely included in statewide accountability reporting for the same tests used in elementary and middle grades.
Housing in the Lincoln area is moderately priced compared to the state as a whole, and the area’s slow population decline suggests a stable or slightly shrinking housing market rather than one under growth pressure. The community’s civic anchors include a public library, a community hall, a small airport, and access to extensive wilderness recreation. For families considering a move to this part of Montana, Lincoln High School offers a high school experience defined by its rural setting, very small scale, and universal economic need among its students. Anyone who wants to understand the school’s academic trajectory will need to look beyond public state data and speak directly with the district about student outcomes, graduation patterns, and the pathways available after high school.
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