The reported proficiency rate for English language arts is 43%.
Original Research by School Decision on Lincoln 7-8
Lincoln 7-8 is a small middle school nestled in the unincorporated community of Lincoln, Montana, a rural settlement in the Blackfoot River valley that once thrived on gold mining and logging and now serves as a quiet gateway for outdoor recreation. The town has seen a slow population decline over recent decades, and its character remains frontier-like, with Montana Highway 200 running through a sparse corridor of homes and basic services. The school itself is part of Lincoln K-12 Schools, a unified PK-12 district, and shares a campus near the small downtown area.
With a very small enrollment, Lincoln 7-8 serves only seventh and eighth graders. The student body is predominantly white, with a small number of students identifying as two or more races and a single Hispanic student. Every student in the school qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic context of a community where median household income is modest and a notable share of residents live below the poverty line.
On state assessments, the picture is limited. English language arts results are available: about two out of every five students scored at or above the proficient level. Math and science results were suppressed, a common practice when a tested group is too small to report reliably. That suppression itself is a clue to the school’s scale—when only a handful of students sit for a test, the state withholds the figure to protect privacy. The available ELA data, combined with the suppressed math and science scores, means the school’s overall proficiency index falls in the bottom quartile relative to districts in Lewis and Clark County. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, particularly to understand the academic experience beyond what the small numbers can show.
Because Lincoln 7-8 does not serve high school grades, there is no graduation rate to consider. Chronic absenteeism data is also absent, and no information on discipline, course access, or staffing was available from the sources provided. The school’s programs and extracurricular offerings were not documented in the data, so a parent would need to ask directly about what is available for this age group.
What is clear is that Lincoln 7-8 operates in a very small, rural context. The entire district is a single K-12 system serving a remote community. The student population is economically homogenous, with universal free lunch eligibility. The school’s test results, where they can be reported, suggest a modest level of proficiency, and the suppressed figures for math and science mean the full picture of academic performance is incomplete.
For a family considering this school, the key takeaway is scale and setting. This is a place where a child will know every classmate and teacher personally. The community is tight-knit but remote, with limited commercial and cultural amenities. The school’s offerings may be constrained by its size, but for a family seeking a straightforward, rural middle school experience in a declining but stable mountain town, Lincoln 7-8 fits that profile. The academic data is thin and below average compared to other districts in the county, but the small numbers mean individual attention is the norm rather than the exception. A parent should visit, talk to the staff, and see how the school’s day-to-day life matches their own priorities.
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