Best Public Schools in Fort Smith, MT

Summary:

The city of Fort Smith, Montana has only one school, the Fort Smith School, which serves grades PK-5 and has a total enrollment of 17 students. The school is part of the Hardin Elementary school district, which is ranked 373 out of 387 districts in the state of Montana and has a 0-star rating from SchoolDigger.

The Fort Smith School has significantly lower proficiency rates compared to the Hardin Elementary district and the state of Montana in English Language Arts (11.11% vs. 11.9% and 43.09%), Mathematics (0% vs. 3.55% and 36.77%), and Science (0% vs. 8.88% and 38.16%). The school's performance has declined over the past few years, with its statewide ranking dropping from 237 out of 356 in 2020-2021 to 384 out of 401 in 2024-2025. Additionally, the school has a very high rate of free and reduced-price lunch recipients, with 100% of students qualifying for this program, indicating high levels of poverty in the community.

Despite the school's very low student-teacher ratio of 5:1, which is significantly lower than the typical ratio, the Fort Smith School is struggling to provide a quality education to its students. The combination of extremely low academic performance, declining rankings, and high poverty levels suggests that the school is facing significant challenges that will likely require substantial interventions and support from the district and state to improve student outcomes.

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking ()				MAST English Language Arts (2025)	MAST Mathematics (2025)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score ()	Statewide Rank ()	State Percentile ()	Rank Change from Previous Year	MAST English Language Arts All Grades	MAST Mathematics All Grades	Total
Fort Smith School	Public	PK, KG-5	502 Avenue C	Fort Smith	59035	Big Horn County	Hardin Elementary	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(406) 666-2350	17	3	5.0	100.0%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5.8	384^th of 401 public elementary schools	4.2%					(n/a)	11.1	0.0	$31,855

Cities Near Fort Smith

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Lodge Grass	22.03 mi	3	126^th
Wyola	23.62 mi	2	119^th
Crow Agency	27.85 mi	1
Hardin	31.89 mi	4
Pryor	35.75 mi	3	121^st

See the top MT Montana cities

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Montana Office of Public Instruction.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.