Summary:
Pocatello District is home to four middle schools—Franklin, Irving, Hawthorne, and Alameda—serving grades 6 through 8 with a combined enrollment of 2,604 students. The district ranks 38th among 101 Idaho districts, placing it in the 62nd percentile with a 3-star rating, but performance varies sharply across its schools, from Franklin’s top-tier 4-star ranking to Irving and Hawthorne’s 2-star ratings.
Franklin Middle School is the clear standout, ranking 31st of 174 Idaho middle schools in 2025–2026 and exceeding district and state averages in every subject, including 56.5% math proficiency and 69.4% ELA proficiency. It also has the district’s lowest chronic absenteeism rate at 12.9% and the lowest free/reduced lunch rate at 33.7%. Remarkably, Franklin achieves this with the highest student–teacher ratio (20.7), showing that class size alone doesn’t drive success. Alameda Middle School is the district’s second-strongest performer, ranking 59th statewide with a 3-star rating, and it posts above-average ELA (62.8%) and 8th-grade science (51.5%). Alameda also shows steady academic gains from 6th to 8th grade, suggesting strong upper-grade programming.
Irving Middle School and Hawthorne Middle School are the district’s improvement priorities. Irving ranks 106th (2 stars) despite spending the most per student at $7,793, and its 8th-grade math proficiency sits at just 31.2%—the lowest single subject score in the district. Hawthorne ranks 99th (2 stars) with the highest poverty rate at 56.1% and the lowest science proficiency at 36.3%. Chronic absenteeism is a district-wide concern, with Irving (24.8%) and Alameda (24.5%) nearly double the state rate, while only Franklin falls below it. Across all schools, ELA is a relative strength compared to math, which remains the biggest academic challenge for students in this area.
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