Summary
Ponderosa School is an elementary school in Billings, Montana, serving grades PK-5 with 277 students. While part of the Billings Elementary School District, which is ranked 243 out of 387 districts in the state, Ponderosa School consistently underperforms compared to the district and state in academic metrics.
In the 2024-2025 school year, only 17.32% of Ponderosa students were proficient or better in English Language Arts, compared to 38.97% for the Billings district and 43.09% for the state. Similarly, in math, only 12.12% of Ponderosa students were proficient or better, compared to 33.7% for the district and 36.77% for the state. Ponderosa School also has a very high percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch, reaching 73.65% in the 2024-2025 school year, significantly higher than nearby schools like Highland School (27.48%) and Burlington School (67.08%).
Despite these challenges, Ponderosa School has a relatively low student-teacher ratio, ranging from 11.8 to 14.4 over the past few years, lower than most nearby schools. Additionally, the school's spending per student was $9,360 in the 2018-2019 school year, lower than the nearby schools, which ranged from $9,023 to $10,827 per student. By addressing the underlying factors contributing to the school's underperformance, such as targeting interventions for low-income students and ensuring adequate funding, Ponderosa School could potentially improve its academic outcomes and provide a better educational experience for its students.
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