Morley Nelson Elementary

Morley Nelson Elementary, a PK-6 school in Boise's West Northview neighborhood serving 392 students within the Boise Independent District, has become one of the lowest-performing elementary schools in Idaho, ranking 344th out of 346 schools in 2025–2026 (bottom 1%) after a sharp decline from the 13th percentile just two years earlier. The school serves an overwhelmingly high-poverty population, with 97.7% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch in 2024–2025 — a figure that has remained above 97% for several consecutive years.

Proficiency rates at Morley Nelson Elementary are roughly half to one-third of district and state averages: just 16.3% of students are proficient in math (versus 46.4% district-wide and 43.1% statewide), and 24.2% are proficient in ELA (versus 53.3% and 54.0%). Chronic absenteeism affects 35% of students — about 2.5 times the statewide rate and 12 percentage points above the district average. The comparison with nearby schools serving similar populations is striking: Valley View Elementary, less than a mile away, has nearly identical poverty (97%) yet achieves 51.9% math and 64.0% ELA proficiency with just 17.6% chronic absenteeism. Mountain View Elementary, also under a mile away, posts 50.3% math and 55.7% ELA proficiency. Even Koelsch Elementary, the other bottom-ranked school in the area, slightly outperforms Morley Nelson in math (21.5% vs. 16.3%).

The issue is not a lack of resources. Morley Nelson spends $10,218 per student, more than Valley View ($8,939) and Mountain View ($9,505), and its student-teacher ratio of 16.9 is in line with neighboring schools. The large gaps between Morley Nelson and equally impoverished nearby schools that achieve far better results suggest that attendance and instructional support — not demographics or funding — are the most promising targets for change. The success of those neighboring schools demonstrates that the current outcomes are not inevitable.