Enrollment
35
Montana · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Cardwell, MT
Cardwell School
Federal NCES profile for Cardwell School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 39/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 300555000161
👥 S:T ratio 72
🌟 Gifted program 30
📋 Attendance 14
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Cardwell School earns 39/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 84% of Montana schools.
- 39
- Resource Index · Typical
- 7:1
- small classes for Montana
- 35
- students enrolled
Cardwell School has class sizes smaller than 84% of Montana schools. Computed live against every Montana school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Cardwell Elem · Montana
NCES ID 300555000161 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
5.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
7:1
vs 11.8:1 Montana avg
-41% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Cardwell School compares with Montana and U.S. medians
What stands out at Cardwell School
Cardwell School is a mid-sized combined-grade school in Cardwell, Montana, enrolling 35 students.
Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 7:1 puts it in the smaller third of Montana schools by student-teacher ratio.
Enrollment of 35 puts it in the smaller third of Montana schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index sits near the middle of the pack among 826 scored Montana schools.
Its student body is predominantly White (80% of enrollment) (diversity index 35/100).
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 34.3% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
Its district draws 26.5% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.
Cardwell Elem operates only this one school, so Cardwell School has no district-mates to compare against locally.
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 Cardwell School compares
Cardwell 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 | 7:1 | ▼ 41% | 11.8:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Enrollment | 35 | top 68% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
7:1
Leaner classes than 97% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
35
Bigger than 4% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Staffing depth
7:1
students per teacher
- 41% below state mean
Top 16% in Montana - lower ratio than 84% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
34.3%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$16,235
per pupil, district-wide
- below Montana avg of $19,282
Close to the U.S. public-school average per-pupil spend.
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 80.0%
Two or More 8.6%
Hispanic or Latino 5.7%
American Indian / Alaska Native 5.7%
Largest group: White at 80.0% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 34.6/100
Simpson diversity index - at 34.6, Cardwell School is more mixed than the Montana school average of 23.6.
Programs
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Cardwell Elem, which includes Cardwell School.
$16,235
Per student
-16%
vs Montana
Avg $19,282
-2%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 44.2%
State 29.3%
Federal 26.5%
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 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 (~35 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~7:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Cardwell School's federal record.
- Compare Cardwell School against another school. Compare schools
- Cardwell 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 Cardwell School
How many students attend Cardwell School?
Cardwell School has 35 students enrolled. It is a public school in Cardwell, MT.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Cardwell School?
The student-teacher ratio at Cardwell School is 7:1, which is 41% lower than the Montana average of 11.8:1 and 55% 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 Cardwell School?
The largest demographic group at Cardwell School is White at 80.0% of enrollment, in Cardwell, MT.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Cardwell School?
Cardwell School has a Resource Investment Index of 39/100 (typical 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).
Is Cardwell School a good school?
Cardwell School earns 39/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 84% of Montana schools. 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 Cardwell Elem?
None reported; Cardwell Elem operates only Cardwell 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.