Summary:
The city of Bigfork, Montana is home to two middle schools serving grades 6-8: Bigfork 6-8 and Swan River 6-8. Based on the available data, Bigfork 6-8 emerges as the standout performer, consistently ranking among the top middle schools in Montana and outperforming the state average in several key metrics.
Bigfork 6-8 has earned 4 out of 5 stars from SchoolDigger and placed 40th out of 190 middle schools in Montana in the 2021-2022 school year, and 56th out of 187 in 2022-2023. The school's proficiency rates in English Language Arts (55.26%) and Science (43.42%) exceed the state averages, though its Math proficiency (31.17%) falls slightly below. In contrast, Swan River 6-8 has lower statewide rankings and underperforms the state average in all three subject areas.
The data also reveals significant differences in the student populations served by the two schools. Bigfork 6-8 has a lower percentage of free/reduced lunch recipients (22.46%) compared to Swan River 6-8 (100%), suggesting that the latter serves a more economically disadvantaged student population. Additionally, Bigfork 6-8 has a higher student-teacher ratio of 24:1, while Swan River 6-8 has a lower ratio of 9.7:1, though this does not appear to translate into better academic outcomes for the latter school.
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