Best Public Schools in Chinook, MT

The city of Chinook, Montana is home to 5 schools, including 3 elementary schools, 1 middle school, and 1 high school, serving students from preschool through 12th grade. The data reveals stark performance differences between the top-performing Cleveland School and Bear Paw School, which are ranked among the best in the state, and the lower-performing Meadowlark School, Chinook High School, and Chinook 7-8.

The top-performing schools, Cleveland School and Bear Paw School, are both small elementary schools (grades PK-8) that rank among the top 6% and 1.5% of Montana elementary schools, respectively. They boast exceptional test scores, with proficiency rates over 30 percentage points higher than the state averages. In contrast, the larger schools, such as Chinook High School and Chinook 7-8, struggle with lower proficiency rates and rankings.

The data also reveals disparities in funding, with Bear Paw School spending nearly twice as much per student as Meadowlark School. This, combined with the differences in school size, may be contributing factors to the performance gaps observed across the Chinook Elementary, Chinook High School, Cleveland Elementary, and Bear Paw Elementary districts.