Enrollment
62
Montana · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Highwood, MT
Highwood School
Federal NCES profile for Highwood School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 28/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 301407000436
👥 S:T ratio 50
🌟 Gifted program 30
📋 Attendance 3
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Highwood School earns 28/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Montana median.
- #2 of 3
- public schools in Highwood · Resource Index
- 28
- Resource Index · Lower
- 12.4:1
- students per teacher
- 62
- students enrolled
Highwood School has class sizes near the Montana median. Computed live against every Montana school reporting to NCES.
By Resource Investment Index, Highwood School ranks #2 of 3 public schools in Highwood, MT.
School address
District: Highwood K-12 · Montana
NCES ID 301407000436 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
5.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
12.4:1
vs 11.8:1 Montana avg
+5% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Highwood School compares with Montana and U.S. medians
What stands out at Highwood School
Scale and staffing sit near the state mainstream
Highwood 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
Highwood School's 38.7% 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.
Highwood School is a mid-sized combined-grade school in Highwood, Montana, enrolling 62 students.
At 12.4:1, its student-teacher ratio sits close to the Montana median, within a few percentage points of the 11.8:1 state norm, neither notably crowded nor notably small.
With 62 students, its enrollment sits close to the Montana median campus size.
Its Resource Investment Index trails 93% of the 826 Montana schools with a score on record, one of the lower results on this measure.
Its student body is predominantly White (97% of enrollment) (diversity index 6/100).
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 38.7% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
Highwood K-12 also operates Highwood High School (25 students) and Highwood Middle School (19 students) alongside Highwood 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 School compares
Highwood 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 | 12.4:1 | ▲ 5% | 11.8:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Enrollment | 62 | top 56% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
12.4:1
Leaner classes than 72% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
62
Bigger than 7% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Staffing depth
12.4:1
students per teacher
- 5% above state mean
Top 53% in Montana - lower ratio than 47% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
38.7%
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
$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 + 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 96.8%
American Indian / Alaska Native 3.2%
Largest group: White at 96.8% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 6.2/100
Simpson diversity index - at 6.2, Highwood School is less mixed than the Montana school average of 23.6.
Programs
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Highwood K-12, which includes Highwood 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 School Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highwood High School | Smaller | No free-lunch data | Similar S:T ratio |
| Highwood Middle School | Smaller | No free-lunch data | Lower S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Highwood 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
- 44/100
- Enrollment
- 19
- Students per teacher
- 6.3:1
- Resource Index
- 26/100
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 (~62 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~12.4:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Highwood School's federal record.
- Compare Highwood 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 School
How many students attend Highwood School?
Highwood School has 62 students enrolled. It is a public school in Highwood, MT.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Highwood School?
The student-teacher ratio at Highwood School is 12.4:1, which is 5% higher than the Montana average of 11.8:1 and 21% lower than the national average of 15.7:1.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Highwood School?
The largest demographic group at Highwood School is White at 96.8% of enrollment, in Highwood, MT.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Highwood School?
Highwood School has a Resource Investment Index of 28/100 (lower 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 Highwood School rank among public schools in Highwood?
By Resource Investment Index, Highwood School ranks #2 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 School, Highwood K-12 also operates Highwood High School (25 students) and Highwood Middle School (19 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.