Kodiak Island Borough School District

The Kodiak Island Borough School District serves about 1,961 students across 11 schools in Alaska, combining a main Kodiak campus cluster of five traditional elementary, middle, and high schools with six very small, remote alternative schools and ranking 12th out of 23 Alaska districts (48th percentile) with a 3-star rating. For parents, the clearest pattern is that the district’s elementary and middle schools are generally strong, while the high school stands out as the biggest academic concern. Peterson Elementary is the district’s top performer in ELA, math, and science, with proficiency rates well above state averages, though its star ranking has slipped from 5 stars to 3 stars in recent years. Kodiak Middle School also beats state averages in all tested subjects, and Akteach, an alternative school, posts the district’s highest ELA proficiency at 60.87% along with above-average science. In contrast, Kodiak High School has ranked in the bottom quarter of Alaska high schools for three straight years, with math proficiency at just 15.12%—less than half the state average—even though its graduation rate of 92.3% is solid.

Comparing the elementary schools shows a stark divide. Peterson Elementary has far stronger test scores and the lowest free/reduced lunch rate among traditional schools (27.67%), while Main Elementary posts the weakest elementary results—with ELA at 34.07% versus Peterson’s 46.32%—and has a free/reduced lunch rate of 61.58%. The grade-level gap is striking: K-8 schools like Peterson and Kodiak Middle generally meet or exceed state proficiency, but Kodiak High School math and science scores collapse. This suggests the high school transition is a critical weak point for the district. Meanwhile, East Elementary has shown improvement from the bottom quarter to the middle of Alaska rankings over the past three years.

The five rural village schools—Old Harbor School, Port Lions School, Chiniak School, Ouzinkie School, and Akhiok School—enroll only about 110 students combined, making their results highly volatile. For example, Old Harbor, Port Lions, and Ouzinkie report 100% graduation rates, yet Port Lions had just 18.75% ELA proficiency, and Akhiok posted a 0% graduation rate. While poverty levels vary widely—Peterson is the most advantaged while rural schools and Kodiak High show higher economic need—the biggest takeaway for parents is that choosing a school in this district means weighing excellent K-8 options in Kodiak against a high school that needs significant support, especially in math and science.