Elementary Schools in Oneida County District

Malad Elementary School and Stone Elementary School are the two elementary schools in the rural Oneida County District in Idaho, serving grades PK-5 and PK-3 respectively, with a combined enrollment of 407 students. Malad is by far the larger school with 386 students, while Stone is a very small, high-poverty school with just 21 students. For parents, the key difference is that Malad delivers strong academic results, while Stone offers a much smaller, more costly learning environment but publishes no achievement data.

Malad is the clear academic standout in this district. Its 2025-2026 state rank is 71 out of 346 Idaho elementary schools (79th percentile, 4 stars), a big jump from the prior year's 52nd percentile. Math proficiency is 55.7%, well above the district's 29.4% and the state's 43.1%. Fifth-grade science (58.2% proficient) and ELA (70.6% proficient) also far exceed state averages. This is especially notable given that 47.4% of Malad students qualify for free/reduced lunch. Stone, by contrast, has the lowest student-teacher ratio at 10.5 (vs. Malad's 19.3) and spends $9,322 per student, about 33% more than Malad's $6,990. Stone's free/reduced lunch rate is 61.9%, but no test scores or rankings are reported for the school, likely due to its tiny enrollment.

Parents should note that while the district as a whole ranks in the middle of Idaho (51st percentile), Malad's school-level rank is much higher, showing that one school can outperform the district's overall profile. Also, Malad's all-grades ELA proficiency (52.8%) is slightly below the state average (54.0%), even though 5th-grade ELA is very strong, suggesting lower grades may need attention. Finally, the data show an unusual chronic absenteeism figure for Malad of 78.0 for 2024-2025, which conflicts with the district's 1.2% rate the following year. This is likely a data error or definition change and should be verified before drawing any conclusions. Overall, Malad offers strong academics with some upper-grade highlights, while Stone remains an unproven but well-resourced small school.