The top reported proficiency rate is 80% in Math. The lowest is 33% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on North Harlem Elementary
North Harlem Elementary is a public school in Harlem, Montana, serving students from prekindergarten through eighth grade. It is the only school in the North Harlem Colony Elementary district, a single-school rural district. The school is very small: its enrollment is a handful of students, all of whom are white, and the sole grade with any students is first grade. Data on free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, special education, and English learner status were not available.
Harlem sits on Montana’s Hi-Line along US Route 2, just north of the Milk River and the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. It is a small rural town with a predominantly Native American and white population and has experienced a modest population decline in recent years. The town’s compact footprint means its schools, library, and tribal college function as the civic core. Home values in the area are below the state median, and the local economy is anchored by educational services, retail trade, and health care.
State testing results are available for math, English language arts, and science, though the number of students tested was very small. On the Smarter Balanced assessments, performance in math was higher than in ELA; in science, the Montana Science Assessment showed a lower proficiency rate. Because the tested group is tiny, these results should be read as a snapshot of a few students rather than a reliable trend. Among districts in Blaine County, the school’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades placed in the top quartile. That comparison is based on a small cohort of districts and should be interpreted with the same caution.
Because the school serves only through eighth grade, there is no graduation rate to report. Data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, and course access were not available. The parent district, North Harlem Colony Elementary, operates only this one school, and a search for recent district changes such as curriculum shifts, referenda, or property-tax developments turned up nothing publicly reported.
This is a school for families who are comfortable with an extremely small, rural setting where the student body is a single classroom of children of the same age. The academic results, while mixed, show some strengths in math relative to the county. A parent considering this school will want to visit, discuss the instructional approach directly with the staff, and understand how the school provides the range of experiences and support that a very small enrollment can offer. The limited public data leaves many questions unanswered, and the best source of information is likely the school itself.
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