Elementary Schools in Gallatin County

Gallatin County has two elementary schools: Gallatin County Lower Elementary, serving PK–2, and Gallatin County Upper Elementary, serving grades 3–5. Test results are available only for the upper school, so the schools cannot be compared academically. The most important finding is that in 2025–2026, Gallatin County Upper Elementary averaged 32% proficient across the reported subject-and-grade results, compared with 44% statewide, despite a standout Grade 3 math result.

Gallatin County Upper Elementary’s strongest result was Grade 3 math: 52% proficient, 9 points above the state’s 43%. Results were much lower in some other areas: Grade 5 writing was 8% versus 35% statewide, a 27-point gap, and editing and mechanics was 23% versus 48%, a 25-point gap. The lower school stands out on some non-test measures: its 2025–2026 chronic absenteeism rate was 18%, compared with 13% at the upper school, while its 2024–2025 student-teacher ratio was lower, 15.6 versus 16.8. Neither measure establishes which school performs better academically because the lower school has no reported test results here.

Results changed unevenly over time: at Gallatin County Upper Elementary, Grade 3 math rose 15 points, from 37% to 52%, while Grade 5 writing fell 13 points, from 21% to 8%, between 2024–2025 and 2025–2026. Across the same 10 comparisons, the school’s average slipped from 33% to 32%, and its gap with the state widened from 11 to 12 points. SchoolDigger’s statewide percentile ranking improved from 16th in 2023–2024 to 23rd in 2025–2026. As context, free/reduced lunch eligible students in 2024–2025 made up 79% at the lower school and 78% at the upper school; this measure, like differences in spending or staffing, does not explain achievement results.