Best Public Schools in Dayton, WY

Dayton, Wyoming, has two listed high schools: Tongue River High School serves grades 9–12 and enrolls 276 students, while The Bridge School serves grades 6–12 and enrolls 10. The latest reported academic results are Tongue River’s 2025–2026 WY-TOPP scores; grade 10 ELA, mathematics and science, plus grade 9 mathematics, are above state results. Its grade 9 ELA score is the exception, at 52.8% versus 55.6% statewide. Overall, Tongue River’s current scores are generally stronger than state results, but its grade 9 ELA result falls below the state.

Tongue River stands out for its reported academic results and higher graduation rate: 80.7% in 2024–2025, compared with 62.5% at The Bridge School, an 18.2-point difference. Tongue River’s graduation rate is 2.4 points below the state rate of 83.1%; The Bridge School’s is 20.6 points below. The Bridge School has a student-teacher ratio of 3, compared with Tongue River’s 16.2, but its very small enrollment and broader grade span make the graduation comparison harder to interpret. Comparable proficiency results are not reported for The Bridge School, so the schools cannot be ranked against each other on test scores.

Tongue River’s results have shifted unevenly: from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, grade 9 ELA fell 17.5 points, while grade 10 ELA rose 4.2 points; mathematics changed little, and grade 10 science declined 1.4 points. Its SchoolDigger rank also moved from 21st of 83 schools (75th percentile) in 2024–2025 to 30th of 81 (63rd percentile) in 2025–2026. The district, Sheridan County School District #1, has a SchoolDigger five-star rating and ranks 3rd of 44 districts; those are district-level measures, not school results. Reported per-student spending is $17,312 at Tongue River and $101,267 at The Bridge School; free/reduced-lunch eligibility is 21.3% and 11.1%, respectively, but those figures come from different school years and are context, not explanations of outcomes.