Summary:
Wendell District is home to just one elementary school, Wendell Elementary School, which serves grades PK–4 in Wendell, Idaho, and enrolls 429 students in a district ranked 97 out of 101 Idaho districts. As the only elementary school in the district, this school is the sole source of elementary ISAT data and gives families a clear picture of the area’s early education performance.
Academically, Wendell Elementary sits in the bottom tier of Idaho elementary schools, ranking 327 out of 346 schools with 0 stars. Proficiency rates are well below state averages: only 24.0% of students are proficient in math versus 43.1% statewide, and 36.3% are proficient in ELA versus 54.0% statewide. Within the school, ELA is the relative strength, with a 12.3-point gap over math. Third graders generally outperform fourth graders in both subjects, and fourth-grade math is the biggest concern at 22.1% proficient. The school does slightly outperform its district’s all-grade averages in math and ELA, but because Wendell District is one of the lowest-ranked in Idaho, that is not a high bar.
Attendance and poverty are important context. Chronic absenteeism at 14.4% is above both the district (11.7%) and the state (13.8%), meaning roughly one in seven students misses enough school to be considered chronically absent. About 80% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, so the school serves a high-poverty community. Historically, the school has improved from the 1st percentile in 2016–2017 to the 7th percentile in 2024–2025, before slipping to the 5th percentile in 2025–2026. Still, it remains in the bottom 5% of Idaho elementary schools. For parents, the main takeaways are that Wendell Elementary faces serious academic and attendance challenges, math and fourth grade need the most support, and the school is a relative bright spot within a very struggling district.
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