Enrollment
17
Montana · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Fort Smith, MT
Fort Smith School
Federal NCES profile for Fort Smith School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 48/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 301331000393
👥 S:T ratio 77
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 86
📋 Attendance 0
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Fort Smith School earns 48/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 90% of Montana schools.
- 48
- Resource Index · Typical
- 5.7:1
- small classes for Montana
- 17
- students enrolled
Fort Smith School has class sizes smaller than 90% of Montana schools. Computed live against every Montana school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Hardin Elem · Montana
NCES ID 301331000393 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
3.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
5.7:1
vs 11.8:1 Montana avg
-52% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Fort Smith School compares with Montana and U.S. medians
What stands out at Fort Smith School
Fort Smith School is a mid-sized combined-grade school in Fort Smith, Montana, enrolling 17 students.
Classes run notably small here: at 5.7:1, Fort Smith School is leaner than roughly 90% of Montana schools and 52% under the state's 11.8:1 norm, more adult attention per pupil than most peers.
Enrollment of 17 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 American Indian / Alaska Native (100% of enrollment) (diversity index 0/100).
Counselor coverage is strong, about 68 students per counselor, inside the American School Counselor Association's recommended 250:1.
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 76.5% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
The surrounding Hardin Elem spends $15,447 per pupil, 20% below the Montana average, a leaner-resourced district than most.
Its district draws 47.4% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.
Hardin Elem also operates Hardin Middle School (359 students) and Hardin Intermediate (290 students) alongside Fort Smith School.
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 Fort Smith School compares
Fort Smith 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 | 5.7:1 | ▼ 52% | 11.8:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Enrollment | 17 | top 82% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
5.7:1
Leaner classes than 98% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
17
Bigger than 2% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Staffing depth
5.7:1
students per teacher
- 52% below state mean
Top 10% in Montana - lower ratio than 90% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
76.5%
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
$15,447
per pupil, district-wide
- below Montana avg of $19,282
Somewhat below the U.S. average per-pupil spend; funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors0.3 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
American Indian / Alaska Native 100.0%
Largest group: American Indian / Alaska Native at 100.0% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 0.0/100
Simpson diversity index - at 0.0, Fort Smith School is less mixed than the Montana school average of 23.6.
Programs
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Hardin Elem, which includes Fort Smith School.
$15,447
Per student
-20%
vs Montana
Avg $19,282
-7%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 17.3%
State 35.3%
Federal 47.4%
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.
How Fort Smith School Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardin Middle School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
| Hardin Intermediate | Larger | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
| Hardin Primary | Larger | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
| Crow Agency School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Fort Smith School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 359
- Students per teacher
- 11.6:1
- Resource Index
- 28/100
- Enrollment
- 290
- Students per teacher
- 13.2:1
- Resource Index
- 30/100
- Enrollment
- 287
- Students per teacher
- 9.9:1
- Resource Index
- 33/100
- Enrollment
- 268
- Students per teacher
- 12.2:1
- Resource Index
- 43/100
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 (~17 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~5.7:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Fort Smith School's federal record.
- Compare Fort Smith School against another school. Compare schools
- Hardin 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 Fort Smith School
How many students attend Fort Smith School?
Fort Smith School has 17 students enrolled. It is a public school in Fort Smith, MT.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Fort Smith School?
The student-teacher ratio at Fort Smith School is 5.7:1, which is 52% lower than the Montana average of 11.8:1 and 64% 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 Fort Smith School?
The largest demographic group at Fort Smith School is American Indian / Alaska Native at 100.0% of enrollment, in Fort Smith, MT.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Fort Smith School?
Fort Smith School has a Resource Investment Index of 48/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
Is Fort Smith School a good school?
Fort Smith School earns 48/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 90% 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 Hardin Elem?
Besides Fort Smith School, Hardin Elem also operates Hardin Middle School (359 students), Hardin Intermediate (290 students), and Hardin Primary (287 students). See the Hardin 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, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.