The top reported proficiency rate is 50% in English language arts. The lowest is 46% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Savage 7-8
Savage 7-8 is the middle-level school within the Savage Public School system, serving the small, unincorporated community of Savage, Montana. It is a school that covers only two grade levels, seventh and eighth, and its enrollment is very small. The student body is substantially white, with a very modest presence of American Indian or Alaska Native and Hispanic students. This composition is a plain characteristic of the school and the surrounding rural area; it is not framed as a good or bad attribute.
The academic assessment data, drawn from statewide testing for the most recent school year, provides a limited but useful picture. On the Smarter Balanced Assessment for math, the proportion of students scoring proficient or above landed above the midpoint among Richland County districts, falling within the top quartile. In English language arts, roughly half of the students reached the proficient or above threshold. The science assessment results were suppressed in the data available, which a family may want to discuss with the school to understand how their student’s science performance is tracked. Because the school only serves seventh and eighth grades, there is no graduation rate to report, and chronic absenteeism data was also not available.
The overall proficiency index, which averages results across tested subjects, places Savage 7-8 in the top quartile relative to other districts in Richland County. This is a stated strength and suggests that, for the students tested, the school’s academic outcomes are generally competitive within its local context. However, the school’s small size means these results represent a very small number of test-takers, and a family should consider that single-year fluctuations can have a larger effect on the percentages than they would at a larger school.
There were no data reported on free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, special education enrollment, or English learner enrollment, so the school’s economic and support-service profile is not visible from the available records. Information on discipline, course access, and staffing was also missing. The district brief turned up no evidence of recent referendums, curriculum changes, or property-tax shifts, which is consistent with a very small, remote rural district where major public change is uncommon.
Housing values in the area sit below the state median, and the community is described as a stable, sparsely populated place along the Yellowstone River. The local economy is supported by educational services, retail trade, and mining or oil and gas extraction. Families considering the school should be aware that the community offers only basic services and very limited street life, and that the school is a central civic anchor rather than a separate campus.
Savage 7-8 fits a family who wants a very small school setting in a rural, low-key community, and who is comfortable with the limited data available on student support programs and broader school operations. The academic picture is one of moderate local strength based on the available testing results, but the thinness of the information means a parent should be prepared to ask direct questions of the school about areas like special education, English learner services, and student discipline.
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