The top reported proficiency rate is 0% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on L a Muldown School
L A Muldown School is an elementary school in Whitefish, Montana, serving students from preschool through fourth grade. It is part of the Whitefish Elem district and sits on the eastern side of town on East 7th Street, a short distance from the downtown core.
The school enrolls a large student body for its pre-K-through-4 grade band. Demographically, the student population is predominantly white, with a small share of Hispanic students and a similar share of students who identify as two or more races. Asian and Black students each represent a very small part of the enrollment. About a quarter of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that is modest for a school in a resort community where housing costs have risen sharply. Data on the share of students with individualized education programs or English-learner status was not available in the source material.
Muldown is an early-grades school, which means several typical academic outcome measures do not apply here. There is no graduation rate to report, as the school serves only through fourth grade. The state testing data that exists for third grade shows a proficiency rate reported as zero, but this figure appears to be a reporting artifact rather than a genuine academic result. A parent should ask the school directly for current classroom-level assessment information and local benchmark results, as the public state assessment data for this building does not provide a usable picture of student achievement. Within the county, the school’s overall proficiency index placed in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in Flathead County, but this calculation draws from the same questionable source data and should be interpreted with caution given the school's limited tested grade span.
The Whitefish community is a mix of a working residential base and a tourism-driven economy. The largest employers include BNSF Railway, Whitefish Mountain Resort, North Valley Hospital, and the broad accommodation and food services sector. The town has experienced sustained population growth over recent decades, and this has put pressure on housing availability and affordability. Home values in the area are high relative to national averages, and rents are elevated as well. The housing market shows a moderate pace of sales, with listings spending about two months on the market on average.
The school sits in a community where the downtown is walkable, with a historic Amtrak depot, a library, shops, and restaurants. The public schools, including Muldown, are clustered along a corridor on the east side of town, somewhat separate from the commercial downtown. City Beach on Whitefish Lake and the Whitefish Trail system are nearby outdoor amenities.
On the district level, voters have approved a pair of operational levies in recent years, in 2023 and again in 2024, which provide ongoing funding for district programming and staffing. These levies represent a recurring property-tax-supported investment that affects household costs for district residents. The district also updated its strategic plan in 2024, with a key priority being full implementation of the Project Lead The Way Launch STEM program at Muldown Elementary. This program includes modules in computer science, engineering, and biomedical science, and represents a curriculum change that will be in place for students across the district’s elementary, middle, and high school levels.
For a family considering this school, the most relevant factors are the grade span, the community context, and the district-level investments in STEM programming and operational funding. The school is one of the entry points into a district that has been working to expand academic offerings and has secured voter support for its budget. The lack of usable state testing data means that academic performance at this building is not easily compared from public sources, and a family would need to seek information directly from the school or district office to understand how students are progressing in the early grades.
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