Other / mixed grade configuration · Sidney, MT

Rau School

Federal NCES profile for Rau School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 55/100.

2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 302196000651
0/100100/10055/100
👥 S:T ratio
60
🌟 Gifted program
30
📋 Attendance
75
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Rau School earns 55/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Montana median.

#1 of 3
schools in Sidney · Resource Index
55
Resource Index · Higher
10:1
students per teacher
70
students enrolled

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

By Resource Investment Index, Rau School ranks #1 of 3 schools in Sidney, MT.

School address

Enrollment

70

Montana · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

7.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

10:1

vs 11.8:1 Montana avg

-15% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

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

At or below state median
0:135:110:1

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

What stands out at Rau School

Rau School is a mid-sized combined-grade school in Sidney, Montana, enrolling 70 students.

Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 10:1 puts it in the smaller third of Montana schools by student-teacher ratio.

With 70 students, its enrollment sits close to the Montana median campus size.

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

Its student body is predominantly White (90% of enrollment) (diversity index 18/100).

10.0% of students were chronically absent in the 2021-22 collection, in line with the post-pandemic national range.

The surrounding Rau Elem spends $13,639 per pupil, 29% below the Montana average, a leaner-resourced district than most.

Among Sidney's public schools, it stands alongside West Side Elementary (288 students): Rau School is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (10:1 vs 13.7:1).

Rau Elem operates only this one school, so Rau School has no district-mates to compare against locally.

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 Rau School compares

Rau 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 10:1 ▼ 15% 11.8:1 15.7:1
Enrollment 70 top 53% - -

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

10:1
Leaner classes than 89% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
70
Bigger than 7% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Staffing depth
10:1
students per teacher - 15% below state mean
Top 35% in Montana - lower ratio than 65% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
10.0%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
In the 10-15% range, above the pre-pandemic national baseline but within the broader post-pandemic picture.
Funding equity
$13,639
per pupil, district-wide - below Montana avg of $19,282
Somewhat below the U.S. average per-pupil spend; funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
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.

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 90.0%
Hispanic or Latino 7.1%
Two or More 2.9%

Largest group: White at 90.0% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 18.4/100

Simpson diversity index - at 18.4, Rau School is less mixed than the Montana school average of 23.6.

Programs

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Rau Elem, which includes Rau School.

$13,639
Per student
-29%
vs Montana
Avg $19,282
-18%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 41.7%
State 45.8%
Federal 12.4%

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.

Similar other schools in Sidney

2 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 Rau 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 Rau School

How many students attend Rau School?

Rau School has 70 students enrolled. It is a public school in Sidney, MT.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Rau School?

The student-teacher ratio at Rau School is 10:1, which is 15% lower than the Montana average of 11.8:1 and 36% 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 Rau School?

The largest demographic group at Rau School is White at 90.0% of enrollment, in Sidney, MT.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Rau School?

Rau School has a Resource Investment Index of 55/100 (higher reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 3 factors: student-teacher ratio, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).

How does Rau School rank among schools in Sidney?

By Resource Investment Index, Rau School ranks #1 of 3 schools in Sidney, MT. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all schools in Sidney on the city page.

Is Rau School a good school?

Rau School earns 55/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Montana median. 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 Rau Elem?

None reported; Rau Elem operates only Rau School as a public school district in NCES's records.

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.

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.