Enrollment
5
Montana · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Chester, MT
Sage Creek Elementary
Federal NCES profile for Sage Creek Elementary, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 52/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 300009800329
👥 S:T ratio 80
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 99
📋 Attendance 0
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Sage Creek Elementary earns 52/100 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 4
- public schools in Chester · Resource Index
- 52
- Resource Index · Higher
- 5:1
- small classes for Montana
- 5
- students enrolled
Sage Creek Elementary has class sizes smaller than 92% of Montana schools. Computed live against every Montana school reporting to NCES.
By Resource Investment Index, Sage Creek Elementary ranks #1 of 4 public schools in Chester, MT.
School address
District: Chester-Joplin-Inverness El · Montana
NCES ID 300009800329 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 Sage Creek Elementary compares with Montana and U.S. medians
What stands out at Sage Creek Elementary
Sage Creek Elementary is a small combined-grade school in Chester, Montana, enrolling 5 students.
Classes run notably small here: at 5:1, Sage Creek Elementary 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 lands in the upper third of 826 scored Montana schools.
Its student body is predominantly White (100% of enrollment) (diversity index 0/100).
Counselor coverage is strong, about 5 students per counselor, inside the American School Counselor Association's recommended 250:1.
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 40.0% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
The surrounding Chester-Joplin-Inverness El spends $12,670 per pupil, 34% below the Montana average, a leaner-resourced district than most.
Its district draws 21.4% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.
Among Chester's public schools, it stands alongside Chester-Joplin-Inverness Schl (124 students): Sage Creek Elementary is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (5:1 vs 13.8:1).
Chester-Joplin-Inverness El also operates Chester-Joplin-Inverness Schl (124 students) and Chester-Joplin-Inverness 7-8 (30 students) alongside Sage Creek Elementary.
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 Sage Creek Elementary compares
Sage Creek Elementary 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
40.0%
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
$12,670
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 5 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
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 100.0%
Largest group: White at 100.0% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 0.0/100
Simpson diversity index - at 0.0, Sage Creek Elementary is less mixed than the Montana school average of 23.6.
Programs
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Chester-Joplin-Inverness El, which includes Sage Creek Elementary.
$12,670
Per student
-34%
vs Montana
Avg $19,282
-24%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 40.9%
State 37.7%
Federal 21.4%
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 Sage Creek Elementary Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chester-Joplin-Inverness Schl | Larger | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
| Chester-Joplin-Inverness 7-8 | Larger | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
| Cool Spring Colony School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Sage Creek Elementary's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 124
- Students per teacher
- 13.8:1
- Resource Index
- 39/100
- Enrollment
- 30
- Students per teacher
- 7.5:1
- Resource Index
- 49/100
- Enrollment
- 9
- Students per teacher
- 9:1
- Resource Index
- 64/100
Similar other schools in Chester
1 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.
Similar enrollment (~5 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~5:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Sage Creek Elementary's federal record.
- Compare Sage Creek Elementary against another school. Compare schools
- Chester-Joplin-Inverness El'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 Sage Creek Elementary
How many students attend Sage Creek Elementary?
Sage Creek Elementary has 5 students enrolled. It is a public school in Chester, MT.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Sage Creek Elementary?
The student-teacher ratio at Sage Creek Elementary 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 Sage Creek Elementary?
The largest demographic group at Sage Creek Elementary is White at 100.0% of enrollment, in Chester, MT.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Sage Creek Elementary?
Sage Creek Elementary has a Resource Investment Index of 52/100 (higher reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
How does Sage Creek Elementary rank among public schools in Chester?
By Resource Investment Index, Sage Creek Elementary ranks #1 of 4 public schools in Chester, MT. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all public schools in Chester on the city page.
Is Sage Creek Elementary a good school?
Sage Creek Elementary earns 52/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 92% of Montana schools. It is also one of the smallest schools in Montana. 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 Chester-Joplin-Inverness El?
Besides Sage Creek Elementary, Chester-Joplin-Inverness El also operates Chester-Joplin-Inverness Schl (124 students), Chester-Joplin-Inverness 7-8 (30 students), and Cool Spring Colony School (9 students). See the Chester-Joplin-Inverness El 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, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.