Enrollment
10
Montana · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Chinook, MT
Bear Paw School
Federal NCES profile for Bear Paw School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 55/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 300300000039
👥 S:T ratio 60
🌟 Gifted program 30
📋 Attendance 75
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Bear Paw School earns 55/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Montana median.
- #2 of 3
- schools in Chinook · Resource Index
- 55
- Resource Index · Higher
- 10:1
- students per teacher
- 10
- students enrolled
Bear Paw School has class sizes near the Montana median. Computed live against every Montana school reporting to NCES.
By Resource Investment Index, Bear Paw School ranks #2 of 3 schools in Chinook, MT.
School address
District: Bear Paw Elem · Montana
NCES ID 300300000039 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
1.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
10:1
vs 11.8:1 Montana avg
-15% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Bear Paw School compares with Montana and U.S. medians
What stands out at Bear Paw School
Bear Paw School is a small combined-grade school in Chinook, Montana, enrolling 10 students.
Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 10:1 puts it in the smaller third of Montana schools by student-teacher ratio.
This is a small campus: fewer students than 91% of Montana schools, with 10 enrolled.
Its Resource Investment Index lands in the upper third of 826 scored Montana schools.
Its student body is predominantly White (90% of enrollment) (diversity index 18/100).
10.0% of students were chronically absent in the 2021-22 collection, in line with the post-pandemic national range.
The surrounding Bear Paw Elem spends $12,100 per pupil, 37% below the Montana average, a leaner-resourced district than most.
Among Chinook's public schools, it stands alongside Meadowlark School (144 students): Bear Paw School is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (10:1 vs 10.3:1).
Bear Paw Elem operates only this one school, so Bear Paw School has no district-mates to compare against locally. At 10 students, it is also a small operation, on the smaller end of Montana's single-school districts.
Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
How Bear Paw School compares
Bear Paw School on the metrics families compare, against Montana and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Montana | Montana avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 10:1 | ▼ 15% | 11.8:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Enrollment | 10 | top 91% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
10:1
Leaner classes than 89% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
10
Bigger than 1% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Staffing depth
10:1
students per teacher
- 15% below state mean
Top 35% in Montana - lower ratio than 65% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
10.0%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
In the 10-15% range, above the pre-pandemic national baseline but within the broader post-pandemic picture.
Funding equity
$12,100
per pupil, district-wide
- below Montana avg of $19,282
Well below the U.S. average per-pupil spend, a notably leaner funding position that may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors0.0 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 0 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
- Common Core of Data (June 2026): enrollment, staffing, and the student-teacher ratio above.
- Civil Rights Data Collection: discipline counts and program access (AP, gifted, special education).
- F-33 School District Finance Survey: the district-wide per-pupil spending figures below.
Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.
Student demographics
White 90.0%
African American 10.0%
Largest group: White at 90.0% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 18.0/100
Simpson diversity index - at 18.0, Bear Paw School is less mixed than the Montana school average of 23.6.
Programs
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Bear Paw Elem, which includes Bear Paw School.
$12,100
Per student
-37%
vs Montana
Avg $19,282
-27%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 36.0%
State 50.3%
Federal 13.7%
Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.
Similar other schools in Chinook
2 comparable other schools (grades Mixed) serving the same city.
Similar other schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Montana, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~10 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~10:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Bear Paw School's federal record.
- Compare Bear Paw School against another school. Compare schools
- Bear Paw Elem's spending and staffing shape this school. District profile
- Confirm current enrollment and boundaries with the school. Choosing guide
Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.
Frequently asked questions about Bear Paw School
How many students attend Bear Paw School?
Bear Paw School has 10 students enrolled. It is a public school in Chinook, MT.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Bear Paw School?
The student-teacher ratio at Bear Paw School is 10:1, which is 15% lower than the Montana average of 11.8:1 and 36% lower than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Bear Paw School?
The largest demographic group at Bear Paw School is White at 90.0% of enrollment, in Chinook, MT.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Bear Paw School?
Bear Paw School has a Resource Investment Index of 55/100 (higher reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 3 factors: student-teacher ratio, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
How does Bear Paw School rank among schools in Chinook?
By Resource Investment Index, Bear Paw School ranks #2 of 3 schools in Chinook, MT. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all schools in Chinook on the city page.
Is Bear Paw School a good school?
Bear Paw School earns 55/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Montana median. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.
What other schools are in Bear Paw Elem?
None reported; Bear Paw Elem operates only Bear Paw School as a public school district in NCES's records.
Related tools
Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.