Enrollment
16
Montana · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Bozeman, MT
Cottonwood School
Federal NCES profile for Cottonwood School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 56/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 300750000353
👥 S:T ratio 68
🌟 Gifted program 30
📋 Attendance 69
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Cottonwood School earns 56/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 77% of Montana schools.
- #1 of 13
- schools in Bozeman · Resource Index
- 56
- Resource Index · Higher
- 8:1
- small classes for Montana
- 16
- students enrolled
Cottonwood School has class sizes smaller than 77% of Montana schools. Computed live against every Montana school reporting to NCES.
By Resource Investment Index, Cottonwood School ranks #1 of 13 schools in Bozeman, MT.
School address
District: Cottonwood Elem · Montana
NCES ID 300750000353 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
2.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
8:1
vs 11.8:1 Montana avg
-32% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Cottonwood School compares with Montana and U.S. medians
What stands out at Cottonwood School
Small campus with unusually lean teacher staffing
Cottonwood School sits near the smaller end of the Montana enrollment distribution while also reporting a lower student-teacher ratio than most state schools. That pairing is consistent with a compact, teacher-dense setting, though small scale can limit the number of specialized courses or support roles a campus can sustain. The program and staffing sections below show whether the lean ratio extends beyond classroom teachers into broader student services.
Student support operates inside a leaner district budget
Cottonwood School's district reports $12,000 in per-pupil expenditure, at least 15% below the Montana average of $19,859. That district-wide constraint gives the campus-level support fields added meaning: counselor loads, specialist staffing, and program access are being reported within a comparatively lean spending environment. F-33 does not publish this school's own budget, so the comparison describes district context rather than dollars assigned to this building.
Cottonwood School is a mid-sized combined-grade school in Bozeman, Montana, enrolling 16 students.
Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 8:1 puts it in the smaller third of Montana schools by student-teacher ratio.
Enrollment of 16 puts it in the smaller third of Montana schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index lands in the upper third of 826 scored Montana schools.
Its student body is predominantly White (94% of enrollment) (diversity index 12/100).
12.5% of students were chronically absent in the 2021-22 collection, in line with the post-pandemic national range.
The surrounding Cottonwood Elem spends $12,000 per pupil, 40% below the Montana average, a leaner-resourced district than most.
Among Bozeman's public schools, it stands alongside Emily Dickinson School (531 students): Cottonwood School is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (8:1 vs 16.1:1).
Cottonwood Elem operates only this one school, so Cottonwood 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 Cottonwood School compares
Cottonwood 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 | 8:1 | ▼ 32% | 11.8:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Enrollment | 16 | top 83% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
8:1
Leaner classes than 95% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
16
Bigger than 2% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Staffing depth
8:1
students per teacher
- 32% below state mean
Top 23% in Montana - lower ratio than 77% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
12.5%
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
$12,000
per pupil, district-wide
- below Montana avg of $19,859
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.
Student demographics
White 93.8%
Two or More 6.3%
Largest group: White at 93.8% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 11.6/100
Simpson diversity index - at 11.6, Cottonwood School is less mixed than the Montana school average of 23.6.
Programs
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Cottonwood Elem, which includes Cottonwood School.
$12,000
Per student
-40%
vs Montana
Avg $19,859
-32%
vs U.S.
Avg $17,658
Revenue mix
Local 37.6%
State 49.2%
Federal 13.2%
Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2022-23 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.
Similar other schools in Bozeman
6 comparable other schools (grades Mixed) serving the same city.
Emily Dickinson School
Standard public school
531 students 16.1:1 students per teacher
Hyalite Elementary
Standard public school
521 students 15.3:1 students per teacher
Meadowlark Elementary
Standard public school
492 students 15.9:1 students per teacher
Morning Star School
Standard public school
482 students 21:1 students per teacher
Hawthorne School
Standard public school
348 students 17.4:1 students per teacher
Longfellow School
Standard public school
289 students 14.4:1 students per teacher
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 (~16 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~8:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Cottonwood School's federal record.
- Compare Cottonwood School against another school. Compare schools
- Cottonwood 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 Cottonwood School
How many students attend Cottonwood School?
Cottonwood School has 16 students enrolled. It is a public school in Bozeman, MT.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Cottonwood School?
The student-teacher ratio at Cottonwood School is 8:1, which is 32% lower than the Montana average of 11.8:1 and 49% 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 Cottonwood School?
The largest demographic group at Cottonwood School is White at 93.8% of enrollment, in Bozeman, MT.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Cottonwood School?
Cottonwood School has a Resource Investment Index of 56/100 (higher reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 3 factors: student-teacher ratio, gifted-program reporting, chronic absenteeism. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
How does Cottonwood School rank among schools in Bozeman?
By Resource Investment Index, Cottonwood School ranks #1 of 13 schools in Bozeman, MT. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all schools in Bozeman on the city page.
What other schools are in Cottonwood Elem?
None reported; Cottonwood Elem operates only Cottonwood 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, the data changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.