Black Canyon Elementary School

Black Canyon Elementary School in Grace, ID, is a rural PK-6 school serving 292 students in the Grace Joint District, which ranks among the top 16% of Idaho districts. The school has steadily improved, rising from a 3-star to a 4-star rating and climbing to 101st place statewide in 2025-2026 (71st percentile).

Academically, Black Canyon is well above the Idaho average. On the 2025-2026 ISAT, 58.5% of students scored proficient in math and 63.2% in English Language Arts, compared to state averages of 43.1% and 54.0%. The 4th grade class is a standout, with 78.4% proficiency in math and 71.4% in ELA. The school also outperforms its nearest comparable neighbor, Howard E Thirkill Primary School in Soda Springs — just 8.78 miles away — by roughly 20 points in both subjects, even while serving a higher percentage of low-income students (48.6% vs. 41.1%). Nearby Lava Elementary and Georgetown Elementary post higher math scores, but they are much smaller schools with far lower student-teacher ratios, making Black Canyon's results at 292 students particularly notable.

The school's main challenges are a 5th-grade academic dip — math proficiency drops to 44.1%, right at the state average — and chronic absenteeism of 9.0%, which is below the state rate of 13.8% but above its district's 5.6%. Nearby North Gem Elementary has a much higher rate at 19.7%. Encouragingly, Black Canyon has improved its scores even as poverty has risen: between 2023-2024 and 2025-2026, free/reduced lunch eligibility grew from 39.4% to 48.6%, while math proficiency rose from 51.3% to 58.5% and ELA from 60.3% to 63.2%. For parents, Black Canyon offers a high-performing, improving option in rural southeastern Idaho, with a strong 4th-grade program and a track record of beating state averages despite growing student need.