Enrollment
16
Montana · 2024-25 NCES data
Middle school (grades 6-8) · Medicine Lake, MT
Medicine Lake 7-8
Federal NCES profile for Medicine Lake 7-8, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 53/100.
2024-25 NCES dataMiddle school (grades 6-8)NCES 301817001055
👥 S:T ratio 68
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 94
📋 Attendance 22
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Medicine Lake 7-8 earns 53/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 77% of Montana schools.
- #2 of 3
- public schools in Medicine Lake · Resource Index
- 53
- Resource Index · Higher
- 8:1
- small classes for Montana
- 16
- students enrolled
Medicine Lake 7-8 has class sizes smaller than 77% of Montana schools. Computed live against every Montana school reporting to NCES.
By Resource Investment Index, Medicine Lake 7-8 ranks #2 of 3 public schools in Medicine Lake, MT.
School address
District: Medicine Lake K-12 Schools · Montana
NCES ID 301817001055 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
2.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
8:1
vs 11.8:1 Montana avg
-32% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Medicine Lake 7-8 compares with Montana and U.S. medians
What stands out at Medicine Lake 7-8
Small campus with unusually lean teacher staffing
Medicine Lake 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.
Attendance is the dominant support signal
Medicine Lake 7-8's 31.3% 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.
Medicine Lake 7-8 is a mid-sized middle school in Medicine Lake, Montana, enrolling 16 students.
Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 8:1 puts it in the smaller third of Montana schools by student-teacher ratio.
Enrollment of 16 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 led by White (75%) and American Indian / Alaska Native (13%) (diversity index 41/100).
Counselor coverage is strong, about 32 students per counselor, inside the American School Counselor Association's recommended 250:1.
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 31.3% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
The surrounding Medicine Lake K-12 Schools spends $36,702 per pupil, 85% above the Montana average, a better-resourced district than most.
Medicine Lake K-12 Schools also operates Medicine Lake School (47 students) and Medicine Lake High School (25 students) alongside Medicine Lake 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 Medicine Lake 7-8 compares
Medicine Lake 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 | 8:1 | ▼ 32% | 11.8:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Enrollment | 16 | top 83% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
8:1
Leaner classes than 95% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
16
Bigger than 2% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Staffing depth
8:1
students per teacher
- 32% below state mean
Top 23% in Montana - lower ratio than 77% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
31.3%
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
$36,702
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
Counselors0.5 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 2 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 12.5 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Student demographics
White 75.0%
American Indian / Alaska Native 12.5%
Hispanic or Latino 6.3%
Two or More 6.3%
Largest group: White at 75.0% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 41.4/100
Simpson diversity index - at 41.4, Medicine Lake 7-8 is more mixed than the Montana school average of 23.6.
Programs
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Medicine Lake K-12 Schools, which includes Medicine Lake 7-8.
$36,702
Per student
+85%
vs Montana
Avg $19,859
+108%
vs U.S.
Avg $17,658
Revenue mix
Local 50.4%
State 40.7%
Federal 8.9%
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 Medicine Lake 7-8 Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medicine Lake School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Lower S:T ratio |
| Medicine Lake High School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Lower S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Medicine Lake 7-8's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 47
- Students per teacher
- 5.9:1
- Resource Index
- 59/100
- Enrollment
- 25
- Students per teacher
- 5:1
- Resource Index
- 50/100
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 (~16 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~8:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Medicine Lake 7-8's federal record.
- Compare Medicine Lake 7-8 against another school. Compare schools
- Medicine Lake 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 Medicine Lake 7-8
How many students attend Medicine Lake 7-8?
Medicine Lake 7-8 has 16 students enrolled. It is a middle school in Medicine Lake, MT.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Medicine Lake 7-8?
The student-teacher ratio at Medicine Lake 7-8 is 8:1, which is 32% lower than the Montana average of 11.8:1 and 49% 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 Medicine Lake 7-8?
The largest demographic group at Medicine Lake 7-8 is White at 75.0% of enrollment, in Medicine Lake, MT.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Medicine Lake 7-8?
Medicine Lake 7-8 has a Resource Investment Index of 53/100 (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 Medicine Lake 7-8 rank among public schools in Medicine Lake?
By Resource Investment Index, Medicine Lake 7-8 ranks #2 of 3 public schools in Medicine Lake, 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 Medicine Lake K-12 Schools?
Besides Medicine Lake 7-8, Medicine Lake K-12 Schools also operates Medicine Lake School (47 students) and Medicine Lake High School (25 students). See the Medicine Lake 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.