Ammon Elementary School

Ammon Elementary is a PK-6 school in Ammon, Idaho, serving 303 students in the Bonneville Joint District, and it ranks in the lower-middle tier of Idaho elementary schools with a 2-star rating. The school serves a moderately low-income population, with 42.2% of students qualifying for free/reduced lunch, a figure that has climbed noticeably from 27.6% two years earlier. Chronic absenteeism of 14.4% is close to the state average, and the school spends $6,852 per student — more than some nearby higher-performing schools.

Ammon's most urgent concern is English Language Arts. Just 37.7% of students are proficient in ELA, which is the lowest rate among all nearby elementary schools and roughly 16 points below the state average. This stands out because several neighboring schools with higher poverty and absenteeism do much better in reading. For example, Hillview Elementary, less than half a mile away, has a 62.8% poverty rate and 21.7% chronic absenteeism, yet posts 49.5% ELA proficiency. Math performance is closer to average: 38.9% of Ammon students are proficient in math, compared with 43.1% statewide. Nearby Rimrock Elementary (88th percentile) and Woodland Hills Elementary (84th percentile) both post much higher scores overall, while schools like Tiebreaker Elementary and Theresa Bunker Elementary fall in a similar lower range.

There is a genuine bright spot: Ammon's third-grade math proficiency is 60%, well above the district and state averages and second only to Rimrock among nearby schools. However, this strength fades by later grades, as the all-grade math figure shows. The recent improvement in attendance — down from 18.1% to 14.4% chronic absenteeism — is a positive sign. The bottom line for parents is that Ammon has solid early math instruction and improving attendance, but literacy outcomes lag well behind what similar schools achieve, making reading support the highest-leverage priority to watch.