Butte County Middle/High School

Butte County Middle/High School is a small combined secondary school in Arco, Idaho, serving 186 students in grades 7 through 12, making it the primary secondary option in the rural Butte County Joint District, with no other schools located within 20 miles for direct comparison. This school offers a clear academic bright spot in English Language Arts, consistently outperforming state averages year after year, with 71.7% proficiency in 2025-2026 compared to 54% statewide, and 7th graders particularly excelling at 80% proficiency. Middle school math and science also show relative strength, with 7th grade math hitting 72% proficiency versus 43.6% statewide. However, these early advantages tend to fade as students progress, with high school End of Course science proficiency notably lagging at 28.6% versus 41.2% statewide, and high school math also slipping below state averages.

The school's small enrollment means individual student outcomes heavily influence data, helping explain the volatile graduation rate that swung from a critical 62.9% in 2023-2024 to a much healthier 82.5% in 2024-2025. Chronic absenteeism is a persistent concern, running consistently above state averages, reaching 23% in 2024-2025 compared to 14.6% statewide, which likely undermines academic progress and engagement. This pattern may be contributing to the school's declining statewide ranking, which has slipped from the 78th percentile with a 4-star rating in 2022-2023 to the 46th percentile with a 2-star rating in recent years, even as the district overall maintains a 3-star rating.

Families considering this school will find a strong literacy foundation and a supportive middle school environment, alongside a growing share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The most urgent priorities appear to be improving high school-level science and math outcomes, reducing chronic absenteeism, and sustaining the recent graduation rate recovery. With its strong ELA program as a foundation, the school has clear building blocks to improve upon, but families should watch how high school coursework and attendance trends evolve in the coming years.