Summary:
Schools in the city of Athol, a small community in Idaho, consist of a single public elementary school, Athol Elementary School, which serves grades PK–5 with 287 students in the Lakeland District. Because Athol has just one school, all comparisons are made against the district and the state rather than against other local schools. The school operates with a student-teacher ratio of 16.8 and a free/reduced-price lunch rate of 27.18%, and per-student spending is $8,738. The Lakeland District is a top-tier district, ranked 21st out of 101 districts in Idaho, placing it in the 79th percentile with a 4-star rating.
Athol Elementary School has shown a mid-range statewide ranking, sitting at the 50th percentile in 2025-2026 (172 out of 346 schools with 3 stars), after improving to the 66th percentile in 2024-2025. In the 2025-2026 ISAT testing, the school beat the state average in math (48.4% vs. 43.1%) and English Language Arts (54.5% vs. 54.0%), but trailed its own district in both subjects, especially in ELA where the district reached 60.7%. In the prior year, 2024-2025, the school's science proficiency was outstanding at 63.5%, well above both the district (51.5%) and the state (42.6%).
One area of concern is chronic absenteeism: at 17.9%, Athol Elementary School is above both the district (12.4%) and the state (13.8%), which is notable given the school's relatively low poverty rate. Math proficiency also shows a troubling pattern, rising from 47.9% in 3rd grade to 54.5% in 4th grade, then dropping sharply to 42.9% in 5th grade, just barely above the state average. In contrast, ELA proficiency climbs steadily across grade levels, from 51.1% in 3rd grade to 56.4% in 5th grade, suggesting strong literacy development in upper elementary. Since Athol has no middle or high school, students will eventually transition to secondary schools elsewhere in the Lakeland District, making the district's strong performance an important factor for families considering this area.
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