Wendell District

Wendell District is a small, high-poverty district in Idaho serving roughly 1,104 students across three schools: Wendell Elementary School (PK–4), Wendell Middle School (5–8), and Wendell High School (9–12). The district ranks 97th out of 101 Idaho districts with a 0-star rating, and roughly 72% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Every school falls far below state averages in math, English language arts, and science; the widest gap is middle school science at 13.3% proficiency versus 42.7% statewide, and even the smallest gap — elementary math at 24.0% versus 43.1% — means fewer than one in four students is proficient.

Among the three schools, Wendell Elementary School is the academic leader, posting the strongest math scores in the district (24.0%) despite serving the highest-poverty student population at 80.2% free/reduced lunch. Wendell High School stands out for its remarkably low chronic absenteeism rate of 5.9% — far better than the district's 11.7% and the state's 13.8% — but it also suffered a dramatic ranking collapse, falling from 42nd out of 159 Idaho high schools in 2023–2024 to 116th out of 122 in 2025–2026. Wendell Middle School shows the widest internal variation, with 5th-grade math proficiency at just 9.5% versus 30.9% in 7th grade, and its science proficiency plunged from 28.5% to 13.3% in a single year.

Notably, Wendell High School spends the most per student ($9,310) and has the smallest class sizes, yet posts the lowest math scores, while Wendell Elementary School spends the least ($7,632) and achieves the best results — a reminder that resources alone do not drive outcomes. The high school's graduation rate of 82.5% matches the state average, but low test scores warrant caution. The 5th-grade math weakness and the middle school science collapse are urgent red flags, and the high school's ranking free-fall deserves immediate investigation. Ultimately, Wendell is not uniformly struggling — elementary performance and high school attendance are bright spots to build on.