The top reported proficiency rate is 68% in Math. The lowest is 50% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Tongue River Middle School
Tongue River Middle School sits in Ranchester, Wyoming, a small town in Sheridan County between the city of Sheridan and the Bighorn Mountains, close to the Montana border. The town grew up around railroad tie loading and timber from the Bighorns and has long served as a stopping point for hunters, snowmobile riders, and travelers heading over the Bighorn Scenic Byway on U.S. Highway 14. Today Ranchester is growing steadily, with a new visitor's center and a recently opened brewery among its commercial additions. The town is compact, with civic life and schools integrated into the community rather than separated onto distant campuses. Tongue River Elementary shares the town with the middle school, while Tongue River High School sits about five miles south in Dayton. Connor Battlefield State Historic Site, a public library branch, and Town Hall are all within the small town footprint.
The middle school serves grades six through eight with a total enrollment that is modest, consistent with a rural community of this size. The student body is predominantly white, with a small Hispanic presence and a handful of students from other racial backgrounds. Free-or-reduced-price lunch data was not available, and information on students with individualized education programs and English learners was also missing, so families wanting to understand the school's support for special populations will need to ask the school directly.
On Wyoming's WY-TOPP assessment, Tongue River Middle posted solid results in the most recent year. Math proficiency was strong across all three grades, with seventh and eighth graders reaching a level that compares well statewide and sixth graders not far behind. English language arts results were more mixed: sixth grade proficiency landed below the other two grades, while seventh and eighth grade showed healthier rates. Science, tested only in eighth grade, came in at a middle level, with about half of students demonstrating proficiency. Participation was high across nearly every grade and subject. Looking at the school's overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades relative to districts in Sheridan County, Tongue River Middle sits below the midpoint among the county's three districts. This is a fact worth noting but not a cause for alarm in a small rural school where a handful of students can shift a grade-level rate noticeably. A parent may want to look into the sixth-grade ELA results and the eighth-grade science results further with the school to understand what is driving those numbers and what supports are in place.
Because this is a middle school serving only grades six through eight, there is no graduation rate to report, and that metric does not apply here. Chronic absenteeism data was not available. The comparison set used for this school covers districts in Sheridan County, a small cohort of three, so the positional context should be read with that limited universe in mind.
The housing market in the 82839 zip code carries a typical home value above both the Wyoming state benchmark and the national benchmark, with a price-to-income ratio that sits well above the national figure. This means buying a home in the attendance area requires a relatively strong income relative to much of the country, and monthly mortgage costs at current rates are substantial. Rental data was not available. For families considering a move to the area, the cost of entry into the housing market is a real factor, though the town itself offers a quiet, outdoors-oriented lifestyle with direct access to the Bighorns and a tight-knit community feel.
We looked for recent district-level changes or strategic priorities from Sheridan County School District #1 but found little of lasting impact in publicly reported sources, so we left that out rather than guess. Program offerings, course access, staffing details, discipline data, and attendance figures were not provided, which limits the picture of day-to-day school life. What the available data does show is a small, rural middle school with generally strong math performance, solid upper-grade ELA results, some softer spots in sixth-grade ELA and eighth-grade science, and a homogenous student body in a growing but still small Wyoming town where housing costs run higher than state and national norms.
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