Alturas Elementary School

Alturas Elementary School is a public school in Hailey, Idaho serving 445 students in grades PK-5, and it is the largest elementary school in the Blaine County District. The school serves a community with significant economic need — about 53% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, the highest rate among neighboring elementary schools. At the same time, Alturas is currently ranked in the bottom 10% of Idaho elementary schools, earning 0 stars in the latest statewide assessment.

Academically, Alturas trails both district and state averages across all subjects. In the most recent school year, only 32.9% of students were proficient in math, compared with 43.1% statewide, and just 29.5% were proficient in English Language Arts, compared with 54.0% statewide — a gap of nearly 25 percentage points in reading. Early literacy is a particular concern: only about one in five third-graders is reading at grade level. Math tells a different story, starting relatively stronger in third grade at 41.8% proficiency but declining sharply by fifth grade, where just 22.7% of students meet state standards, roughly 20 points below the state average.

The school does have notable strengths. Chronic absenteeism is just 9.1%, well below both the district rate of 14.4% and the state rate of 13.8% — an especially encouraging figure for a school with high poverty. Math scores have also improved modestly in recent years. Still, the contrast with Syringa Mountain Charter School, located less than half a mile away, is striking: Syringa reports 74.6% math and 79.7% reading proficiency with the same attendance rate, though it serves a different student population and school model. Alturas also spends less per student ($15,226) than nearby Hailey Elementary School ($19,139) and Bellevue Elementary School ($19,961), despite serving a higher-need population. For parents, the picture is clear: attendance is solid, but academic intervention — especially in early literacy and upper-grade math — is urgently needed.