Enrollment
5
Montana · 2024-25 NCES data
Middle school (grades 6-8) · Lima, MT
Lima 7-8
Federal NCES profile for Lima 7-8, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 64/100.
2024-25 NCES dataMiddle school (grades 6-8)NCES 301671000929
👥 S:T ratio 80
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 97
📋 Attendance 50
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Lima 7-8 earns 64/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 92% of Montana schools. It is also one of the smallest schools in Montana.
- #1 of 3
- public schools in Lima · Resource Index
- 64
- Resource Index · Higher
- 5:1
- small classes for Montana
- 5
- students enrolled
Lima 7-8 has class sizes smaller than 92% of Montana schools. Computed live against every Montana school reporting to NCES.
By Resource Investment Index, Lima 7-8 ranks #1 of 3 public schools in Lima, MT.
School address
District: Lima K-12 Schools · Montana
NCES ID 301671000929 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
1.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
5:1
vs 11.8:1 Montana avg
-58% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Lima 7-8 compares with Montana and U.S. medians
What stands out at Lima 7-8
Small campus with unusually lean teacher staffing
Lima 7-8 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.
No single support indicator dominates
Lima 7-8's available federal support indicators do not reveal an extreme in advanced-course access, specialist staffing, chronic absence, or IDEA enrollment. The most responsible reading is therefore component by component rather than a sweeping verdict: current counseling availability, health support, program schedules, and attendance policy still warrant direct confirmation. Missing or middle-range federal fields are not evidence that services are either strong or weak.
Lima 7-8 is a small middle school in Lima, Montana, enrolling 5 students.
Classes run notably small here: at 5:1, Lima 7-8 is leaner than roughly 92% of Montana schools and 58% under the state's 11.8:1 norm, more adult attention per pupil than most peers.
This is a small campus: fewer students than 96% of Montana schools, with 5 enrolled.
Its Resource Investment Index outscores 97% of the 826 Montana schools with a score on record, a top-tier result on this measure.
Its student body is predominantly White (80% of enrollment) (diversity index 32/100).
Counselor coverage is strong, about 15 students per counselor, inside the American School Counselor Association's recommended 250:1.
Attendance runs somewhat below the norm, with 20.0% of students chronically absent per the 2021-22 civil-rights collection.
The surrounding Lima K-12 Schools spends $25,467 per pupil, 28% above the Montana average, a better-resourced district than most.
Its district draws 19.5% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.
Lima K-12 Schools also operates Lima School (21 students) and Lima High School (13 students) alongside Lima 7-8.
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 Lima 7-8 compares
Lima 7-8 on the metrics families compare, against Montana and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Montana | Montana avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 5:1 | ▼ 58% | 11.8:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Enrollment | 5 | top 96% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
5:1
Leaner classes than 98% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
5
Bigger than 1% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Staffing depth
5:1
students per teacher
- 58% below state mean
Top 8% in Montana - lower ratio than 92% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
20.0%
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
$25,467
per pupil, district-wide
- above Montana avg of $19,859
Well above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting substantially higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
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.
Student demographics
White 80.0%
Two or More 20.0%
Largest group: White at 80.0% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 32.0/100
Simpson diversity index - at 32.0, Lima 7-8 is more mixed than the Montana school average of 23.6.
Programs
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Lima K-12 Schools, which includes Lima 7-8.
$25,467
Per student
+28%
vs Montana
Avg $19,859
+44%
vs U.S.
Avg $17,658
Revenue mix
Local 41.0%
State 39.5%
Federal 19.5%
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 Lima 7-8 Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lima School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
| Lima High School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Lower S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Lima 7-8's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 21
- Students per teacher
- 7:1
- Resource Index
- 47/100
- Enrollment
- 13
- Students per teacher
- 3.3:1
- Resource Index
- 63/100
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 (~5 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~5:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Lima 7-8's federal record.
- Compare Lima 7-8 against another school. Compare schools
- Lima K-12 Schools'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 Lima 7-8
How many students attend Lima 7-8?
Lima 7-8 has 5 students enrolled. It is a middle school in Lima, MT.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Lima 7-8?
The student-teacher ratio at Lima 7-8 is 5:1, which is 58% lower than the Montana average of 11.8:1 and 68% 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 Lima 7-8?
The largest demographic group at Lima 7-8 is White at 80.0% of enrollment, in Lima, MT.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Lima 7-8?
Lima 7-8 has a Resource Investment Index of 64/100 (higher 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 Lima 7-8 rank among public schools in Lima?
By Resource Investment Index, Lima 7-8 ranks #1 of 3 public schools in Lima, 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 Lima K-12 Schools?
Besides Lima 7-8, Lima K-12 Schools also operates Lima School (21 students) and Lima High School (13 students). See the Lima K-12 Schools 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.