Summary:
Salmon, Idaho is served by 4 public schools enrolling 788 students across grades PK-12, including 2 elementary schools and 2 high schools. The two main district schools — Salmon Pioneer Primary School and Salmon Junior/Senior High School — fall under the Salmon District, which ranks 84th out of 101 Idaho districts (17th percentile, 1 star). By contrast, Fern-Waters Public Charter School operates under the Fern-Waters Public Charter School Inc. district, which ranks 8th in the state (92nd percentile, 5 stars).
The academic standout is Fern-Waters Public Charter School, where 65.6% of students are proficient in math and 72.0% in English Language Arts — far above state averages of 43.1% and 54.0%. Fern-Waters beats Salmon Junior/Senior High School by 42.1 percentage points in math. Within the Salmon District, Salmon Pioneer Primary School is the stronger performer, reaching 40.0% math proficiency (above the district average of 30.8%) despite having the highest free/reduced lunch rate in the city at 58.4%. Salmon Junior/Senior High School shows the most concern: 23.5% math, 25.5% science, and 40.5% ELA proficiency, with 8th grade especially low at 15.1% math. Salmon Alternative High School has just 12 students and no reported test data.
Families should be aware of a significant middle-grades slump in the Salmon District: Pioneer students drop from 52.7% math proficiency in 3rd grade to 21.3% in 5th grade, while Jr/Sr High 8th graders fall to 15.1% in math and 28.0% in ELA. Attendance is a relative strength — chronic absenteeism is 8.5% at Pioneer and 11.6% at Jr/Sr High, both below the 13.8% state average — and the district graduation rate of 82.5% matches the state. For parents, Fern-Waters offers the strongest academics in Salmon, Pioneer Primary is the better district elementary option, and the most urgent need for improvement sits at the middle and high school levels.
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