Fort Benton 7-8

Fort Benton 7-8 is an one-room-style intermediate school in Fort Benton, Montana, operated by Fort Benton Elem. The school works with 44 students in grades 7 through 8. That puts it 68% smaller than the typical public school in Montana, which averages around 139 students.

Fort Benton 7-8 is one of 2 schools operated by Fort Benton Elem, a district that educates 206 students overall.

Looking at the student body, Fort Benton 7-8 records that 86% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority. Other groups include 7% Native American, 5% multiracial, 2% Hispanic. By comparison, Chouteau County as a whole is about 77% White, so the school skews meaningfully more White than its surroundings.

On the resource side, Staff filings list 4 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 10.9:1 students per teacher. The state averages about 11.3:1, putting this campus right in line with peers. An estimated 57% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator.

Across the wider county, community-level numbers for Chouteau County indicate median household income runs about $58,218, roughly 23% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 9% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Chouteau County's 15 public schools (combined enrollment of about 701 students), Fort Benton 7-8 is one campus in the mix.

Fort Benton High School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.0 miles from this campus. 2 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius.

The campus sits in an outlying setting.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count ticked down 10%: 49 students in 2018 compared to 44 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share fell from 96% to 86%. Class-load math has tightened: from 13.9:1 in 2018 to 10.9:1 in 2025.

On this page, recent activity here tends to focus on classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. Members of the school community can share what they know.