Similar nearby schools
Most similar nearby schools
Laurel High School → Polson High School → Browning High School → Ronan High School → Frenchtown High School → Stevensville High School → Beaverhead Co High School → Bigfork High School →📋 At a glance
- 🎓 AP rigor: Bottom 18% of US high schools
Composed from federal CRDC offerings, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.
How East Helena High School compares for families
What families should know about East Helena High School.
- ▸ LocallyMT students outperform the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math (+7 points).
- ▸ vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Laurel High School, Polson High School, Browning High School and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.
For Parents
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Objective, government-grade data — no school pays us for placement.
SAT / ACT participation
CRDC federal data · 2020-21Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). Volume — not score — is what's reported here. A higher count means more students at this school are entering the college admissions pipeline. Note: 2020-21 was COVID-disrupted; some districts (especially those that stayed remote longer) report unusually low or zero takers.
🏛️ Federal Title I context
Mixed-income school
Below Title I eligibility threshold (FRPL < 35%)
25-34% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. Below the federal Title I threshold but a meaningful share of the population is income-eligible for free lunch.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data, free/reduced-price lunch eligibility. The actual Title I designation is a district decision and may differ from eligibility — but the federal eligibility math is what we show here. We don't claim to assert whether the district formally chose to enroll this school in Title I.
🏛️ Your state's public flagship
The University of Montana
The in-state tuition gap is the flagship's biggest draw — most in-state families pay far less than the out-of-state sticker. Average net price after aid runs about $16,784/yr. Admission odds depend on your student's GPA and test scores, not which high school they attend.
Source: IPEDS admissions, tuition & enrollment + College Scorecard net price. Flagship = the state's primary public research university.
Chronic absenteeism
Why this matters to enrollment: Chronic absence is the most reliable early indicator that a student will leave a school — either by transferring out, dropping out, or matriculating to a charter or private alternative. At this level, today's absentees become next year's enrollment loss and the year-after's revenue loss.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2024 total enrollment.
Counselor capacity
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020-2021. Counselor ratio = the school's most recent total enrollment ÷ counselor FTE. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommends a 250:1 maximum; the US national median across schools with on-staff counselors is roughly 430:1.
Enrollment trend & projection
Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).
If the recent trend holds…
At its recent rate of +8.6%/year, projecting from 2024's 563 students:
An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.
Revenue upside
At $13,918 per student in district revenue, the 288 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $4,008,384/year in additional funding.
District total revenue ÷ enrollment, NCES F-33. Public funding largely follows enrollment, so a shrinking class is a recurring budget hit.
Most similar nearby high schools
The schools most like this one — same type, blended on distance and size — and where their enrollment is heading. These are the schools families here weigh against each other.
| School | Type | Miles | HS enrollment | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laurel High School Laurel |
Public | 163.7 | 578 | -8.1% |
| Polson High School Polson |
Public | 129.3 | 517 | +1.2% |
| Browning High School Browning |
Public | 144.5 | 633 | +14.5% |
| Ronan High School Ronan |
Public | 121.2 | 376 | +1.3% |
| Frenchtown High School Frenchtown |
Public | 113.7 | 364 | -25.7% |
| Stevensville High School Stevensville |
Public | 103.2 | 347 | -9.4% |
| Beaverhead Co High School Dillon |
Public | 101.8 | 339 | +4.3% |
| Bigfork High School Bigfork |
Public | 143.0 | 333 | -2.9% |