DeSmet School vs Chief Charlo School

DeSmet School and Chief Charlo School are both Missoula elementary schools serving grades PK–05, but they occupy very different positions in Montana's rankings. DeSmet School holds an overall rating of 9.6/10 — ranking it #3 of 603 schools statewide — while Chief Charlo School earns an 8.6/10, placing it #35 of 603 in Montana. That 1.0-point gap represents the difference between Montana's top handful of schools and a school that still outperforms the vast majority of the state.

Both schools score closely on academics, with DeSmet School at 9.6/10 and Chief Charlo School at 9.4/10 — a difference of 0.2 points. The more notable separation is in growth: DeSmet School scores 9.9/10 versus Chief Charlo School's 9.3/10, a 0.6-point delta suggesting students at DeSmet make measurably faster year-over-year academic progress relative to their peers. For families who weigh not just where students start but how quickly they advance, that growth gap is meaningful.

The demographic contrast between the two schools is stark. DeSmet School enrolls 92 students with a student-teacher ratio of 10.2:1 and serves a population that is 100% free/reduced lunch eligible — meaning it achieves its elite statewide ranking while educating an almost entirely economically disadvantaged student body. Chief Charlo School enrolls 417 students, nearly five times as many, with a student-teacher ratio of 14.9:1 and a 40% free/reduced lunch rate. DeSmet's smaller, higher-poverty enrollment makes its performance numbers especially notable from an equity standpoint.

Both schools are located in Missoula, Montana, approximately 8.4 miles apart, and both serve the same grade band of PK through 5th grade. The program structures are comparable at the elementary level, so the decision for most families comes down to class size and community fit rather than program differentiation. DeSmet's 10.2:1 ratio means roughly one teacher for every ten students; at Chief Charlo, that ratio rises to nearly fifteen students per teacher.