The top reported proficiency rate is 0% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Westby High School
Westby High School sits in the northeastern corner of Montana, a short distance from the Canadian border and the North Dakota line. The town of Westby is a tiny agricultural community, its economy built on wheat, canola, and barley farming. The skyline is defined by a grain elevator, and the town’s commercial infrastructure is minimal: a bar, a church, and the school. The population has been declining slowly, a pattern common to remote prairie towns on the Hi-Line.
The high school itself is very small. It serves grades nine through twelve with a total enrollment that reflects the size of the community. The student body is predominantly white, with a small share of students who are Hispanic and a small share who are American Indian or Alaska Native. More than half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that is substantial. The school is part of the Westby K-12 Schools district, a single-school system that educates students from kindergarten through twelfth grade in a compact footprint.
State testing data for high school grades was not available in the most recent year. The school almost certainly serves an untested grade range or had too few students for results to be reported. Because of this, the narrative on academic performance comes from other indicators. The school has no reported graduation rate in the data we reviewed, so a parent may want to follow up directly with the school or district on how students progress toward a diploma. The comparison set that was available – proficiency rates and graduation measures relative to other districts in Sheridan County – could not be meaningfully calculated because the cohort was too small or the data was missing. This is an important context: the school operates at a scale where standard metrics often do not produce reliable comparisons, and the reader should not infer weakness from a missing number.
Housing in the area is significantly more affordable than state and national benchmarks. The typical home value is well below the Montana median, and the estimated monthly mortgage payment is modest. This reflects the broader economic context of a remote agricultural area where housing costs are low relative to much of the state. The national unemployment rate was stable in the most recent months, and median household income has seen gentle upward movement nationally.
The school itself sits within or immediately adjacent to the tiny town center; Westby is small enough that civic and educational life converge in one compact area along Montana Highway 5. There is no separated campus, no distinct downtown. The school building is likely a civic anchor for a community with few other public institutions. No public library or transit system is documented for a town of this size.
The district has no parent-relevant changes on record. No property tax shifts, curriculum updates, pedagogy overhauls, or referendum campaigns have been publicly reported in recent years. This is typical for a very small rural district where operations change slowly and few formal communications reach statewide databases. A parent moving to the area or considering the school may want to speak directly with the district office about current course offerings, extracurricular opportunities, and any plans for the future.
In sum, Westby High School offers an educational experience framed by its setting: a tiny, remote, agricultural community with low housing costs, a declining population, and a single school system that serves all grades. The student body is small and predominantly white, with a notable share of students from lower-income households. State test results and graduation rate data were not available for this review, so a parent should seek that information directly from the school. The school fits a family looking for a very small, rural environment where the school is the center of the community and the larger academic metrics take a back seat to the reality of a place at the margins of the state.
See more original research from School Decision →