Ruder Elementary

This page covers Ruder Elementary, a high-enrollment elementary school in Columbia Falls, Montana. It educates 487 students in pre-K through 5. The school's enrollment is 192% above the 167 average for elementary schools in Montana.

Columbia Falls Elem runs Ruder Elementary along with 2 other schools, enrolling 1,505 students in total.

White students make up 85% of enrollment at Ruder Elementary. Next come 9% multiracial and 5% Hispanic. The school's diversity index is 27%, meaning two students picked at random have a 27% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.

The school reports 34 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to about 14.3 students per teacher. That is 2.4 students per teacher above the 11.9:1 average for elementary schools in Montana. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility covers 98% of students. The gap from the 75% average for public schools in Flathead County is 23 points.

Flathead County has these Census figures: the median household income is $73,925, about 37% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 5% of residents are in poverty. In all, Flathead County has 48 public schools and roughly 14,957 students.

Columbia Falls High Schl is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.4 miles away. Within five miles of Ruder Elementary, there are 3 other public schools.

Its location is classified as Town: Remote by the National Center for Education Statistics.

Enrollment is up 6% from 2020-21, when Ruder Elementary had 458 students, to 2024-25, when it had 487.

Conversations here can range across enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.