Summary:
The Jerome Joint District serves approximately 3,994 students across 7 schools in south-central Idaho — 4 elementary schools, 1 middle school, and 2 high schools, including the alternative Falls City Academy. The district ranks 95th out of 101 Idaho districts (6th percentile) with a 0-star rating, and nearly every school trails state proficiency averages by large margins.
Jefferson Elementary School stands out as the district's strongest elementary school, with the lowest chronic absenteeism at 6.4% (compared to the district's 13.5%), the lowest poverty rate at 59% free/reduced lunch, and the best elementary rank at the 12th percentile. By contrast, Summit Elementary faces the most urgent challenges: 75% poverty, 20.7% chronic absenteeism — roughly triple Jefferson's rate — and a 1st-percentile rank. Jerome High School offers a notable bright spot with 45.8% ELA proficiency, well above the district's 30.7% all-grade average, and its graduation rate matches the state at 82.5%.
Horizon Elementary School has experienced the sharpest long-term decline, falling from the 61st percentile in 2012–13 to the 10th percentile in 2025–26 despite relatively high per-student spending. Jerome Middle School posts the district's closest-to-state science scores at 36% for 8th grade. Frontier Elementary School ranks in the 2nd percentile with low proficiency across subjects. Falls City Academy cannot be meaningfully evaluated due to missing outcome data. The stark differences between Jefferson and Summit suggest that chronic absenteeism and poverty concentration are the most visible correlates of performance, making attendance improvement a promising district-wide strategy.
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