Enrollment
69
Montana · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Ekalaka, MT
Ekalaka Elementary School
Federal NCES profile for Ekalaka Elementary School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 44/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 300967000271
👥 S:T ratio 60
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 78
📋 Attendance 6
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Ekalaka Elementary School earns 44/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Montana median.
- #2 of 3
- public schools in Ekalaka · Resource Index
- 44
- Resource Index · Typical
- 9.9:1
- students per teacher
- 69
- students enrolled
Ekalaka Elementary School has class sizes near the Montana median. Computed live against every Montana school reporting to NCES.
By Resource Investment Index, Ekalaka Elementary School ranks #2 of 3 public schools in Ekalaka, MT.
School address
Teachers (FTE)
7.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
9.9:1
vs 11.8:1 Montana avg
-16% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Ekalaka Elementary School compares with Montana and U.S. medians
What stands out at Ekalaka Elementary School
Scale and staffing sit near the state mainstream
Ekalaka Elementary School is neither an extreme outlier in enrollment nor in student-teacher ratio among Montana schools. Its profile therefore turns on the other dimensions rather than on scale alone: economic need, counselor coverage, program access, attendance, and district finance. This middle placement is useful because it prevents the campus from being mislabeled as unusually large, small, crowded, or teacher-dense when the federal comparison does not support that claim.
Attendance is the dominant support signal
Ekalaka Elementary School's 37.7% chronic-absence rate is more consequential than a generic staffing label: at least one quarter of students missed 10% or more of school days in the 2021-22 collection. That level can affect instruction, counseling demand, and continuity even when other reported resources look ordinary. The dataset records the scale of absence but not its causes, so it should prompt a current-year question rather than a conclusion about school management.
Ekalaka Elementary School is a mid-sized combined-grade school in Ekalaka, Montana, enrolling 69 students.
Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 9.9:1 puts it in the smaller third of Montana schools by student-teacher ratio.
With 69 students, its enrollment sits close to the Montana median campus size.
Its Resource Investment Index sits near the middle of the pack among 826 scored Montana schools.
Its student body is predominantly White (86% of enrollment) (diversity index 26/100).
Counselor coverage is strong, about 110 students per counselor, inside the American School Counselor Association's recommended 250:1.
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 37.7% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
Its district draws 22.5% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.
Its district, Ekalaka Elem, also runs Ekalaka 7-8 (25 students).
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 Ekalaka Elementary School compares
Ekalaka Elementary 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 | 9.9:1 | ▼ 16% | 11.8:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Enrollment | 69 | top 53% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
9.9:1
Leaner classes than 89% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
69
Bigger than 7% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Staffing depth
9.9:1
students per teacher
- 16% below state mean
Top 33% in Montana - lower ratio than 67% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
37.7%
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
$20,864
per pupil, district-wide
- above Montana avg of $19,859
Somewhat above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors0.6 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 1 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 1.4 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Student demographics
White 85.5%
Two or More 8.7%
Asian 2.9%
American Indian / Alaska Native 2.9%
Largest group: White at 85.5% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 26.0/100
Simpson diversity index - at 26.0, Ekalaka Elementary School is more mixed than the Montana school average of 23.6.
Programs
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Ekalaka Elem, which includes Ekalaka Elementary School.
$20,864
Per student
+5%
vs Montana
Avg $19,859
+18%
vs U.S.
Avg $17,658
Revenue mix
Local 51.6%
State 25.9%
Federal 22.5%
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.
How Ekalaka Elementary School Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ekalaka 7-8 | Smaller | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Ekalaka Elementary School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 25
- Students per teacher
- 12.5:1
- Resource Index
- 45/100
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 (~69 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~9.9:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Ekalaka Elementary School's federal record.
- Compare Ekalaka Elementary School against another school. Compare schools
- Ekalaka 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 Ekalaka Elementary School
How many students attend Ekalaka Elementary School?
Ekalaka Elementary School has 69 students enrolled. It is a public school in Ekalaka, MT.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Ekalaka Elementary School?
The student-teacher ratio at Ekalaka Elementary School is 9.9:1, which is 16% lower than the Montana average of 11.8:1 and 37% 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 Ekalaka Elementary School?
The largest demographic group at Ekalaka Elementary School is White at 85.5% of enrollment, in Ekalaka, MT.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Ekalaka Elementary School?
Ekalaka Elementary School has a Resource Investment Index of 44/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, gifted-program reporting, counselor availability, chronic absenteeism. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
How does Ekalaka Elementary School rank among public schools in Ekalaka?
By Resource Investment Index, Ekalaka Elementary School ranks #2 of 3 public schools in Ekalaka, MT. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking.
What other schools are in Ekalaka Elem?
Besides Ekalaka Elementary School, Ekalaka Elem also operates Ekalaka 7-8 (25 students). See the Ekalaka Elem district page for the complete list.
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.