The top reported proficiency rate is 43% in Math. The lowest is 41% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Savage School
Savage School serves students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade in the small, rural community of Savage, Montana. It is the elementary school for the Savage Elem district, and because the town’s public school system educates students from kindergarten through twelfth grade in a single building or campus, this school represents the lower end of that continuum. The enrollment is very small for a PK-6 school, and the student body is overwhelmingly white, with only a handful of students from other racial and ethnic backgrounds. Data on economic disadvantage, special education identification, and English learner status were not reported in the available records.
State testing results from the 2023-24 school year provide a partial picture of academic performance. Students in grades three through six took the Smarter Balanced Assessment in math and English language arts. In math, a share of students scored at the proficient level or above; the rate was similar in ELA, with a slightly smaller share reaching proficiency. These results place Savage above the midpoint among the small group of districts in Richland County that reported comparable data, meaning the school’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades falls in the upper half of that local comparison set. Because the school serves only elementary grades, there is no high school graduation rate, and science results for a very small tested group were suppressed to protect student privacy, so no science proficiency figure is available.
The community of Savage is an unincorporated census-designated place set along the Yellowstone River. It is a rural area surrounded by grain and sugar beet farmland, with a local economy that draws on educational services, retail trade, and mining or oil and gas extraction. The built environment is minimal, and street life is limited, as is typical for a highway community. The school itself is integrated into the town rather than set apart, serving as a central institution. Housing values in the area are modest relative to state and national benchmarks, and the community is stable in population. The district brief turned up no evidence of recent referendums, curriculum changes, or other parent-relevant shifts, a common situation for a very small remote rural district where operations tend to change slowly.
What this means for a family is straightforward. Savage School offers a small, neighborhood-oriented elementary setting in a tight-knit rural community. The academic results are solid relative to other elementary schools in the county, and the low enrollment means class sizes are small. The range of programs, extracurriculars, and support services is likely narrower than what a larger school could provide, but that is typical for a school of this size. Parents who want a quiet, rural elementary experience where the school is woven into the town fabric may find this a good fit. Those looking for a wider array of course options, specialized staff, or a more diverse student peer group will want to confirm that the school meets their expectations, particularly since the data does not report on staffing ratios, disciplinary climate, or chronic absenteeism. Families with elementary-age children will also need to plan for the transition to middle and high school, which in this district likely means continuing at the same campus or a nearby secondary school serving the broader area.
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