Highwood K-12 operates 3 public schools serving 117 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Montana. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 other, 1 high, 1 middle schools, giving families a clear picture of grade-band coverage before they move, rent, or enrol. Aggregated across those campuses, enrollment totals 106 pupils using the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 release, and the district is geographically located in Chouteau County County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $16,931 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, which aggregates every revenue and spending line reported under federal accounting standards. The funding mix is 42.3% local, 49.2% state, and 8.5% federal — a breakdown that matters because districts leaning heavily on local revenue are more exposed to property-tax swings, while higher federal shares typically track Title I concentration. Average teacher compensation clocks in at $79,526 per NCES F-33, a signal of the district's ability to recruit and retain staff against neighbouring districts.
a 924.5:1 student-counselor ratio, above the 250:1 ASCA recommendation, and 42.4% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 92.3% White, 1.8% African American, 1.3% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools.
Highwood School accounts for 58.5% of all Highwood K-12 student enrollment
That concentration — well above the 8.4% national median for largest-entity share — means Highwood K-12-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: other. A single dominant campus often anchors a district's program offerings and staffing patterns; the share helps explain why district-wide averages may not reflect the typical neighbourhood-school experience. When one entity dominates a region's footprint, its programmatic and budget decisions effectively set policy for a majority of the affected population.
Highwood K-12 school enrollment varies 3.3× across entities
Highwood K-12 school enrollment ranges from 19 students (lowest) to 62 students (highest), a spread of 43 students. That relatively narrow ratio reflects an unusually homogeneous campus portfolio — most districts have a wider mix of school sizes. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Highwood K-12 student-counselor ratio is 925:1 — high (typically associated with staffing constraints that limit per-student counselor time; CRDC data shows higher ratios cluster in larger urban systems)
student-counselor ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE counselors against total enrollment — districts that contract intervention or social-emotional staff outside the counselor classification may be under-counted Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.
Highwood K-12 chronic absenteeism rate is 42.4% — high (typically associated with higher-than-average disruption; recent CRDC data showed elevated rates persisting after pandemic-era schooling changes)
chronic absenteeism rate is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: a student is chronically absent if they miss ≥10% of enrolled days for any reason — illness, family obligations, or disengagement Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.