Lillian Peterson School

Lillian Peterson School is a large primary school in Kalispell, Montana, run under Kalispell Elem. The school enrolls 344 students in grades pre-K through 5. By comparison, Montana's public schools average about 167 students each, so Lillian Peterson School sits 106% bigger than that benchmark.

Kalispell Elem comprises 7 schools with combined enrollment of 3,097 students; Lillian Peterson School is among them.

On the student-mix side, Lillian Peterson School lists that nearly all students (86%) are White; the rest looks like 7% Hispanic, 4% multiracial.

On the resource side, Staff filings list 20 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 17.2:1 students per teacher. That figure is higher than the state norm's 11.9:1 average. Roughly 100% of students at Lillian Peterson School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. That share is above Flathead County's rate of about 75%.

Across the wider county, census data for Flathead County shows the typical household earns roughly $73,925 per year, about 37% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and the poverty rate sits near 5%. In all, Flathead County runs 48 public schools (combined enrollment of about 14,957 students), of which Lillian Peterson School is one.

Kalispell Rising Wolf Charter is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.6 miles from this campus. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools.

The campus sits in a town-center setting.

Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Lillian Peterson School has declined 25%, going from 457 students in 2018 to 344 in 2025. The White share of enrollment ticked down from 91% to 86% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio pulled in from 18.3:1 in 2018 to 17.2:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, recent activity here tends to focus on school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. The community welcomes input from current and former families.