Sacajawea Elementary School

Sacajawea Elementary School is a K-4 school in Caldwell, Idaho, serving 362 students in the Caldwell School District. For the 2025-2026 school year, the school ranked 346th out of 346 Idaho elementary schools — the lowest-ranked elementary school in the state. Academically, only 19.2% of students were proficient in math and 17.6% in English language arts, compared to state averages of 43.1% and 54%. The school serves a high-poverty population, with 73.5% of students eligible for free/reduced-price lunch.

These struggles are not new; Sacajawea has ranked last in Idaho in previous years as well. Its ELA proficiency is the lowest among nearby elementary schools, below Lewis And Clark Elementary (22.4%), Washington Elementary School (23.0%), and Purple Sage Elementary (47.6%). Chronic absenteeism affects 23.3% of students — nearly double the state rate of 13.8% — though that figure has improved from 30.1% the prior year. Interestingly, the school has a favorable student-teacher ratio of 14.4 and spends $7,562 per student, which is less than other Caldwell elementary schools but more than Middleton Mill Creek Elementary ($6,395) and Middleton Heights Elementary ($6,678), both of which far outperform Sacajawea academically.

One striking comparison: Mosaics Public School, located less than a mile away, posts math proficiency of 49.2% and ELA proficiency of 50.2%, and its chronic absenteeism rate is just 13.0%. While Mosaics serves a lower-poverty population, it shows that families in the same area have access to far higher-performing schools. The challenges at Sacajawea reflect broader district-wide issues — all five Caldwell District elementary schools rank in the bottom 10% of Idaho schools. Still, Sacajawea's bottom ranking in the state, combined with improving but still-high absenteeism and very low proficiency rates, points to an urgent need for intensive academic interventions, stronger attendance efforts, and systemic reform at the district level.