Clearwater Valley Junior/Senior

Clearwater Valley Junior/Senior is a small, combined grades 7–12 school in Kooskia, Idaho, serving 169 students in the Mountain View School District. The school ranks in the bottom quartile of Idaho high schools (27th percentile, 1 star), placing it well behind nearby Grangeville High School (68th percentile) and Kamiah Senior High (51st percentile). A striking 58.6% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch—roughly double the rate at Grangeville or Kamiah—and this figure has climbed from 41.8% just two years earlier, reflecting a student population with growing economic needs.

Academically, the picture is mixed. Eighth-grade math proficiency reached 43.5% in 2025–26, above both district and state averages, suggesting solid middle-school math instruction. Eighth-grade science (39.1%) also beat the district average. These gains tend to fade once students reach high school, though: end-of-course science proficiency is just 29.6%—fewer than 3 in 10 high-school students are proficient—and English/language arts proficiency is 51.9%, well below the state's 61.3%. Science stands out as the school's biggest academic gap.

Clearwater Valley spends more per student ($15,874) than Grangeville or Kamiah and has a favorable 12.1:1 student-teacher ratio, yet these resources haven't translated into stronger outcomes. Chronic absenteeism runs at 22.1%, about 1.6 times the state average. Graduation rates are also volatile, swinging from a concerning 53.1% in 2022–23 to a healthier 82.5% in 2024–25. For parents, the key takeaway is that Clearwater Valley shows promise in middle-school math, but struggles with poverty, attendance, and high-school-level achievement—so it's worth asking how the school plans to break that cycle.