Fern-Waters Public Charter School

Fern-Waters Public Charter School is a K–8 public charter school in Salmon, Idaho, serving 141 students in a rural mountain community. The school operates as its own charter district, Fern-Waters Public Charter School Inc., which ranked 8th out of 101 Idaho districts (92nd percentile, 5 stars) for 2025-2026. The school itself ranked 58th out of 346 Idaho schools (83rd percentile, 4 stars), up from 74th the previous year. It serves a broader grade span than nearby Salmon Pioneer Primary School (PK–5) and Tendoy Elementary School (K–5), making it a distinctive option in the area.

Fern-Waters dramatically outperforms both state averages and its closest local neighbor, Salmon Pioneer Primary School, which sits just half a mile away. In 2025-2026, Fern-Waters posted 65.6% proficiency in math, 72.0% in English language arts, and 53.3% in science, compared with state averages of 43.1%, 54.0%, and 42.7%. Salmon Pioneer, by contrast, scored 40.0% in math and 43.1% in ELA. The gaps are especially sharp in the elementary grades: 5th grade math is 62.5% at Fern-Waters versus 21.3% at Salmon Pioneer, and 3rd grade ELA is 68.8% versus 43.6%. ELA is the school's strongest subject, with 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades all posting 68.8% proficiency.

Fern-Waters has shown steady improvement in math (46.8% to 65.6% over three years) and ELA (65.0% to 72.0%), though science dipped from 71.4% to 53.3% — still above the state average. With only 141 students, grade cohorts are small, so year-to-year scores can fluctuate; the consistency across subjects and grade levels, however, points to genuine academic strength. The local Salmon District, which operates Salmon Pioneer, ranks 84th out of 101 districts (1 star), making the contrast especially stark. For parents, Fern-Waters stands out as a top-performing school in an area where neighboring traditional public schools struggle to reach state averages.