Heart Butte Elementary

Located at 1 School Road, in Heart Butte, Montana, Heart Butte Elementary is an one-room-style primary school that enrolls 60 students (grades pre-K through 6), operated by Heart Butte K-12 Schools. By comparison, Montana's public schools average about 167 students each, so Heart Butte Elementary sits 64% leaner than that benchmark.

Heart Butte K-12 Schools comprises 3 schools with combined enrollment of 119 students; Heart Butte Elementary is among them.

On the student-mix side, Heart Butte Elementary records that the student body is overwhelmingly Native American (100%).

In terms of school funding signals, Heart Butte Elementary records 8 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 7.7:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 11.9:1, putting Heart Butte Elementary tighter than the state norm the norm. Around 100% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. Set against Pondera County (around 61%), the school's rate is somewhat above typical.

Zooming out to the county, community-level numbers for Pondera County indicate the typical household earns roughly $52,338 per year, 20% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 14% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Pondera County runs 15 public schools (combined enrollment of about 820 students), of which Heart Butte Elementary is one.

The closest other public school is Heart Butte 6-8, roughly 0.0 miles away. Within five miles, there are 2 other public schools.

Heart Butte Elementary operates from a small-town location.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Heart Butte Elementary has contracted 42%, going from 103 students in 2018 to 60 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio tightened from 12.2:1 in 2018 to 7.7:1 today.

On this page, members of the Heart Butte Elementary community share and discuss pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. The community welcomes input from current and former families.