Other / mixed grade configuration · Cut Bank, MT

Zenith Elementary

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

2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 300000301104
0/100100/10055/100
👥 S:T ratio
56
🌟 Gifted program
30
🎓 Counselors
78
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

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

#4 of 8
schools in Cut Bank · Resource Index
55
Resource Index · Higher
11:1
students per teacher
11
students enrolled

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

By Resource Investment Index, Zenith Elementary ranks #4 of 8 schools in Cut Bank, MT.

School address

Enrollment

11

Montana · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

1.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

11:1

vs 11.8:1 Montana avg

-7% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

How Zenith Elementary compares with Montana and U.S. medians

At or below 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 Zenith Elementary

Zenith Elementary is a small combined-grade school in Cut Bank, Montana, enrolling 11 students.

At 11:1, 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 11 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 predominantly White (100% of enrollment) (diversity index 0/100).

Counselor coverage is strong, about 110 students per counselor, inside the American School Counselor Association's recommended 250:1.

The surrounding Cut Bank Elem spends $13,475 per pupil, 30% below the Montana average, a leaner-resourced district than most.

Its district draws 29.8% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.

Among Cut Bank's public schools, it stands alongside H C Davis Elementary (209 students): Zenith Elementary is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (11:1 vs 11:1).

Cut Bank Elem also operates H C Davis Elementary (209 students) and Cut Bank Middle School (145 students) alongside Zenith 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 Zenith Elementary compares

Zenith 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 11:1 ▼ 7% 11.8:1 15.7:1
Enrollment 11 top 89% - -

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

11:1
Leaner classes than 83% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
11
Bigger than 2% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Staffing depth
11:1
students per teacher - 7% below state mean
Top 41% in Montana - lower ratio than 59% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Funding equity
$13,475
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
Counselors0.1 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 100.0%

Largest group: White at 100.0% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 0.0/100

Simpson diversity index - at 0.0, Zenith Elementary is less mixed than the Montana school average of 23.6.

Programs

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Cut Bank Elem, which includes Zenith Elementary.

$13,475
Per student
-30%
vs Montana
Avg $19,282
-19%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 32.3%
State 37.9%
Federal 29.8%

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 Zenith Elementary Compares to District-Mates

School Enrollment Economic Profile Student-Teacher Ratio
H C Davis Elementary Larger No free-lunch data Similar S:T ratio
Cut Bank Middle School Larger No free-lunch data Higher S:T ratio
Anna Jeffries Elementary Larger No free-lunch data Higher S:T ratio
Hidden Lake Elementary Larger No free-lunch data Higher S:T ratio
Horizon Elementary Larger No free-lunch data Higher S:T ratio

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

Other Schools in This District

Cut Bank Elem · 5 sibling schools

View district profile

Similar other schools in Cut Bank

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 Zenith Elementary'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 Zenith Elementary

How many students attend Zenith Elementary?

Zenith Elementary has 11 students enrolled. It is a public school in Cut Bank, MT.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Zenith Elementary?

The student-teacher ratio at Zenith Elementary is 11:1, which is 7% lower than the Montana average of 11.8:1 and 30% 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 Zenith Elementary?

The largest demographic group at Zenith Elementary is White at 100.0% of enrollment, in Cut Bank, MT.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Zenith Elementary?

Zenith Elementary has a Resource Investment Index of 55/100 (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 Zenith Elementary rank among schools in Cut Bank?

By Resource Investment Index, Zenith Elementary ranks #4 of 8 schools in Cut Bank, MT. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all schools in Cut Bank on the city page.

Is Zenith Elementary a good school?

Zenith Elementary 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 Cut Bank Elem?

Besides Zenith Elementary, Cut Bank Elem also operates H C Davis Elementary (209 students), Cut Bank Middle School (145 students), and Anna Jeffries Elementary (118 students). See the Cut Bank 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.

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.