Enrollment
19
Montana · 2024-25 NCES data
Middle school (grades 6-8) · Highwood, MT
Highwood Middle School
Federal NCES profile for Highwood Middle School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 26/100.
2024-25 NCES dataMiddle school (grades 6-8)NCES 301407000947
👥 S:T ratio 75
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 0
📋 Attendance 0
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Highwood Middle School earns 26/100 on the Resource Investment Index, even as it posts class sizes smaller than 88% of Montana schools.
- #3 of 3
- public schools in Highwood · Resource Index
- 26
- Resource Index · Lower
- 6.3:1
- small classes for Montana
- 19
- students enrolled
Highwood Middle School has class sizes smaller than 88% of Montana schools. Computed live against every Montana school reporting to NCES.
By Resource Investment Index, Highwood Middle School ranks #3 of 3 public schools in Highwood, MT.
School address
District: Highwood K-12 · Montana
NCES ID 301407000947 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
3.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
6.3:1
vs 11.8:1 Montana avg
-47% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Highwood Middle School compares with Montana and U.S. medians
What stands out at Highwood Middle School
Small campus with unusually lean teacher staffing
Highwood Middle 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.
Attendance is the dominant support signal
Highwood Middle School's 52.6% 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.
Highwood Middle School is a mid-sized middle school in Highwood, Montana, enrolling 19 students.
Classes run notably small here: at 6.3:1, Highwood Middle School is leaner than roughly 88% of Montana schools and 47% under the state's 11.8:1 norm, more adult attention per pupil than most peers.
Enrollment of 19 puts it in the smaller third of Montana schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index trails 95% of the 826 Montana schools with a score on record, one of the lower results on this measure.
Its student body is predominantly White (84% of enrollment) (diversity index 28/100).
Counselor access is stretched at roughly 633 students per counselor, well above the ASCA-recommended 250:1 ceiling.
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 52.6% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
Highwood K-12 also operates Highwood School (62 students) and Highwood High School (25 students) alongside Highwood Middle 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 Highwood Middle School compares
Highwood Middle 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 | 6.3:1 | ▼ 47% | 11.8:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Enrollment | 19 | top 80% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
6.3:1
Leaner classes than 97% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
19
Bigger than 3% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Staffing depth
6.3:1
students per teacher
- 47% below state mean
Top 12% in Montana - lower ratio than 88% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
52.6%
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
$17,778
per pupil, district-wide
- below Montana avg of $19,859
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 + 1 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 5.3 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Student demographics
White 84.2%
Two or More 10.5%
African American 5.3%
Largest group: White at 84.2% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 27.7/100
Simpson diversity index - at 27.7, Highwood Middle School is more mixed than the Montana school average of 23.6.
Programs
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Highwood K-12, which includes Highwood Middle School.
$17,778
Per student
-10%
vs Montana
Avg $19,859
+1%
vs U.S.
Avg $17,658
Revenue mix
Local 42.3%
State 49.2%
Federal 8.5%
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 Highwood Middle School Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highwood School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
| Highwood High School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Highwood Middle School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 62
- Students per teacher
- 12.4:1
- Resource Index
- 28/100
- Enrollment
- 25
- Students per teacher
- 12.5:1
- Resource Index
- 44/100
Similar middle 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 (~19 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~6.3:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Highwood Middle School's federal record.
- Compare Highwood Middle School against another school. Compare schools
- Highwood K-12'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 Highwood Middle School
How many students attend Highwood Middle School?
Highwood Middle School has 19 students enrolled. It is a middle school in Highwood, MT.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Highwood Middle School?
The student-teacher ratio at Highwood Middle School is 6.3:1, which is 47% lower than the Montana average of 11.8:1 and 60% 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 Highwood Middle School?
The largest demographic group at Highwood Middle School is White at 84.2% of enrollment, in Highwood, MT.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Highwood Middle School?
Highwood Middle School has a Resource Investment Index of 26/100 (lower 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 Highwood Middle School rank among public schools in Highwood?
By Resource Investment Index, Highwood Middle School ranks #3 of 3 public schools in Highwood, 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 Highwood K-12?
Besides Highwood Middle School, Highwood K-12 also operates Highwood School (62 students) and Highwood High School (25 students). See the Highwood K-12 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.