Chief Joseph Middle School

Chief Joseph Middle School operates as a high-enrollment middle school in Bozeman, Montana, part of Bozeman Elem. Current enrollment sits at 751 students spanning grades 6 through 8. By comparison, Montana's public schools average about 139 students each, so Chief Joseph Middle School sits 440% bigger than that benchmark.

Bozeman Elem comprises 11 schools with combined enrollment of 4,689 students; Chief Joseph Middle School is among them.

On demographics, Chief Joseph Middle School logs that 83% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority. Beyond that, the school reports 7% Hispanic, 4% multiracial, 2% Native American.

In terms of school funding signals, Staff filings list 46 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 16.4:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 11.3:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. An estimated 17% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator.

Around the school, ACS estimates for Gallatin County put median household income runs about $93,528, roughly 54% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 4% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Gallatin County's 48 public schools (combined enrollment of about 14,170 students), Chief Joseph Middle School is one campus in the mix.

Gallatin High School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 1.0 miles from this campus. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius.

The campus sits in a metropolitan setting.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count shrank 4%: 783 students in 2018 compared to 751 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share declined from 90% to 83%. The student-to-teacher ratio loosened from 15.2:1 in 2018 to 16.4:1 today.

On this page, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.