Willow Creek School

Set in Willow Creek, Montana, Willow Creek School is an one-room-style K-5 school, overseen by Willow Creek Elem. It works with 33 students across grades pre-K through 6. That puts it 80% leaner than the typical public school in Montana, which averages around 167 students.

Willow Creek Elem runs 2 schools in total, collectively educating 42 students. Willow Creek School is one of those campuses.

Looking at the student body, Willow Creek School lists that the student body is overwhelmingly White (97%). The remainder breaks down as 3% Hispanic. By comparison, Gallatin County as a whole is about 89% White, so the school skews noticeably more White than its surroundings.

Looking at school resources, Staff filings list 5 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 7.0:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 11.9:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. About 30% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment.

In the area at large, community-level numbers for Gallatin County indicate the typical household earns roughly $93,528 per year, 54% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 4%. In all, Gallatin County runs 48 public schools (combined enrollment of about 14,170 students), of which Willow Creek School is one.

Willow Creek 7-8 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.

Geographically, the school is in a low-density area.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Willow Creek School has shrank 35%, going from 51 students in 2018 to 33 in 2025. The White share of enrollment climbed from 92% to 97% over that span. Class-load math has pulled in: from 10.6:1 in 2018 to 7.0:1 in 2025.

On the community side, members of the Willow Creek School community share and discuss science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.