The top reported proficiency rate is 38% in Math. The lowest is 36% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Centerville School
Centerville School is a small, rural elementary school in Cascade County, Montana, serving students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. It is the sole school in the Centerville Elem district, and it shares a campus in Centerville with the upper-grade schools of the broader Centerville Public Schools system. The school draws from the unincorporated communities of Sand Coulee, Centerville, Tracy, and Stockett, a cluster of former coal-mining settlements that have been in sustained population decline since the railroads switched to diesel in the 1930s.
Sand Coulee, the place identified with the school’s address, is a tiny census-designated place with a high homeownership rate and a median property value that, by the available data, has risen in recent years even as the population has contracted. The local economy is minimal; most residents commute, typically driving alone, to Great Falls for work. The area offers no sidewalks, public transit, or local downtown to speak of. Civic and recreational life requires a drive to Great Falls, where state parks, a national forest, and the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Interpretive Center are located. For a family considering this school, the setting is deeply rural and quiet, with the trade-offs of sparse local amenities and a long commute to regional services.
Centerville School itself is quite small in enrollment, and its student body is predominantly white, with a modest share of Hispanic, American Indian, and multiracial students. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The school serves only primary grades, so there is no state testing data for high school subjects, and no graduation rate is applicable. State assessment results for the 2023–24 school year, from the Smarter Balanced Assessment, show that in both math and English language arts, the share of students scoring proficient or above was below the midpoint compared with other districts in Cascade County. In science, results were suppressed for reporting reasons, a common practice when the tested group is small. A parent may want to discuss these proficiency patterns directly with the school to understand what academic interventions or supports are in place.
No data was available for chronic absenteeism, special education enrollment, or English learner populations. Discipline, staffing, and course access information was also absent from the record. The district brief turned up no recent parent-relevant changes, such as boundary adjustments, program launches, or leadership turnover, so it is not clear what, if anything, has shifted in the school’s operation in recent years.
What the school offers is a small-scale, local option for rural families who want their young children schooled close to home rather than bused to Great Falls. The academic results are modest, and the community context is one of decline and isolation. Families who value a tight-knit, neighborhood-anchored elementary experience may find that Centerville School fits, especially if they are already rooted in the area. Families weighing academic performance or looking for a wide array of programs in the elementary years will want to look more closely at what the school provides beyond the core subjects and consider how its trajectory matches their priorities.
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