Other / mixed grade configuration · Great Falls, MT

Longfellow School

Federal NCES profile for Longfellow School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 56/100.

2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 301304000363
0/100100/10056/100
👥 S:T ratio
52
🌟 Gifted program
70
🎓 Counselors
47
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Longfellow School earns 56/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Montana median. It is also more racially and ethnically mixed than most Montana schools.

#1 of 17
schools in Great Falls · Resource Index
56
Resource Index · Higher
12:1
students per teacher
263
students enrolled

Longfellow School has class sizes near the Montana median. Computed live against every Montana school reporting to NCES.

By Resource Investment Index, Longfellow School ranks #1 of 17 schools in Great Falls, MT.

School address

Enrollment

263

Montana · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

22.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

12:1

vs 11.8:1 Montana avg

+2% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

How Longfellow School compares with Montana and U.S. medians

Slightly above state median

Source: NCES Common Core of Data As of 2024-25 federal staff survey Total enrollment ÷ full-time-equivalent classroom teachers

What stands out at Longfellow School

Longfellow School is a mid-sized combined-grade school in Great Falls, Montana, enrolling 263 students.

At 12:1, 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.

Enrollment of 263 puts it in the larger third of Montana schools by headcount.

Its Resource Investment Index lands in the upper third of 826 scored Montana schools.

Its student body is led by White (41%) and American Indian / Alaska Native (24%), more mixed than most schools in the state (diversity index 72/100).

Counselor coverage runs a bit thin, about 263 students per counselor, somewhat past the ASCA-recommended 250:1 benchmark.

The surrounding Great Falls Elem spends $12,418 per pupil, 36% below the Montana average, a leaner-resourced district than most.

Its district draws 27.4% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.

Among Great Falls's public schools, it stands alongside Meadow Lark School (527 students): Longfellow School is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (12:1 vs 22:1).

Great Falls Elem also operates East Middle School (764 students) and North Middle School (764 students) alongside Longfellow 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 Longfellow School compares

Longfellow 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 12:1 ▲ 2% 11.8:1 15.7:1
Enrollment 263 top 24% - -

Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25

12:1
Leaner classes than 75% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
263
Bigger than 27% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Staffing depth
12:1
students per teacher - 2% above state mean
Top 49% in Montana - lower ratio than 51% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Funding equity
$12,418
per pupil, district-wide - below Montana avg of $19,282
Well below the U.S. average per-pupil spend, a notably leaner funding position that may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 263 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
24
in-school suspensions + 16 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 9.1 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 15.2 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

White 40.7%
American Indian / Alaska Native 23.6%
Hispanic or Latino 17.1%
Two or More 17.1%
African American 1.1%
Asian 0.4%

Largest group: White at 40.7% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 72.0/100

Simpson diversity index - at 72.0, Longfellow School is more mixed than the Montana school average of 23.6.

Programs

Gifted & talented Yes

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Great Falls Elem, which includes Longfellow School.

$12,418
Per student
-36%
vs Montana
Avg $19,282
-25%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 33.9%
State 38.7%
Federal 27.4%

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 Longfellow School Compares to District-Mates

School Enrollment Economic Profile Student-Teacher Ratio
East Middle School Larger No free-lunch data Higher S:T ratio
North Middle School Larger No free-lunch data Higher S:T ratio
Meadow Lark School Larger No free-lunch data Higher S:T ratio
Riverview School Larger No free-lunch data Higher S:T ratio
Giant Springs Elementary Larger No free-lunch data Higher S:T ratio

Comparisons are relative to Longfellow School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.

Other Schools in This District

Great Falls Elem · 5 sibling schools

View district profile

Similar other schools in Great Falls

6 comparable other schools (grades Mixed) serving the same city.

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.

Next steps

Verify locally before acting on Longfellow School's federal record.

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 Longfellow School

How many students attend Longfellow School?

Longfellow School has 263 students enrolled. It is a public school in Great Falls, MT.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Longfellow School?

The student-teacher ratio at Longfellow School is 12:1, which is 2% higher than the Montana average of 11.8:1 and 24% lower than the national average of 15.7:1.

What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Longfellow School?

The largest demographic group at Longfellow School is White at 40.7% of enrollment, in Great Falls, MT. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 72.0/100.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Longfellow School?

Longfellow School has a Resource Investment Index of 56/100 (higher reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 3 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).

How does Longfellow School rank among schools in Great Falls?

By Resource Investment Index, Longfellow School ranks #1 of 17 schools in Great Falls, MT. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all schools in Great Falls on the city page.

Is Longfellow School a good school?

Longfellow School earns 56/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Montana median. It is also more racially and ethnically mixed than most 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 Great Falls Elem?

Besides Longfellow School, Great Falls Elem also operates East Middle School (764 students), North Middle School (764 students), and Meadow Lark School (527 students). See the Great Falls Elem district page for the complete list.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) CCD + Public School Universe (2024-25), CRDC (2021-22), F-33 District Finance Survey (FY 2021-22) · 2024-25 Data as of the 2024-25 school year. Coverage from U.S. Department of Education NCES Common Core of Data. Varies by entity type; administrative districts and certain charter networks may report only a subset of fields.

All federal data sources used on this page

Full source list and how we compute each figure: methodology page.

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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.