Best Public Schools in Zip Code 59401

Summary:

The 59401 zip code area of Great Falls, Montana is home to two elementary schools: Giant Springs Elementary and Whittier School, both part of the Great Falls Elementary district. While Giant Springs Elementary has a 2 out of 5 star rating from SchoolDigger, Whittier School lags behind with a 0 out of 5 star rating, indicating significant performance differences between the two schools.

Whittier School appears to be the weaker performing school, with much lower proficiency rates in English Language Arts, Math, and Science compared to both Giant Springs Elementary and the state average. This is despite Whittier School having a lower student-teacher ratio of 10.6 compared to 14.4 at Giant Springs Elementary. Additionally, Whittier School has a very high free/reduced lunch rate of 97.33%, suggesting a high concentration of economically disadvantaged students, which may be a contributing factor to the school's poor academic performance.

The per-student spending at Whittier School ($9,712 in 2018-2019) appears to be higher than the state average, but the school's performance is still lagging behind, raising questions about the effective allocation and utilization of resources. The declining statewide ranking and rating of both schools over the past few years is also a concerning trend that warrants further investigation into the underlying causes and potential interventions to improve the educational outcomes in this zip code area.

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
Whittier School	Public	PK, KG-6	305 8th Street North	Great Falls	59401	Cascade County	Great Falls Elementary	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(406) 268-7230	187	18	10.6	97.3%	77 (41.2%)	2 (1.1%)	22 (11.8%)	3 (1.6%)	42 (22.5%)	0 (0.0%)	41 (21.9%)	7	381^st of 401 public elementary schools	5.0%					(n/a)	7.4	6.2	$15,657
Giant Springs Elementary	Public	PK, KG-6	520 32nd Street North	Great Falls	59401	Cascade County	Great Falls Elementary	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(406) 268-7045	431	30	14.4	75.6%	308 (71.5%)	7 (1.6%)	33 (7.7%)	1 (0.2%)	30 (7.0%)	0 (0.0%)	52 (12.1%)	42.6	246^th of 401 public elementary schools	38.7%					(n/a)	38.4	31.0	$10,538

Cities Near Zip Code 59401

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Great Falls	0.25 mi	23
Sand Coulee	8.43 mi	4	68^th
Ulm	11.44 mi	3
Stockett	12.22 mi	1	96^th
Vaughn	12.71 mi	2

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.