Heyburn Elementary School

Heyburn Elementary School is a mid-sized public school in Heyburn, Idaho, serving 508 students in grades PK through 5 as part of the Minidoka County Joint District. The school serves a largely economically disadvantaged community, with about two-thirds of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Academic proficiency is well below state averages across every subject. In the 2025–2026 school year, only 28.2% of students were proficient in math and 35.2% in English language arts, compared to state averages of 43.1% and 54.0%. Fifth grade science proficiency was especially low at 18.6%, versus 44.0% statewide.

The most concerning pattern is a sharp drop-off in math and science as students enter 5th grade. Math proficiency falls from 35.2% in 4th grade to just 17.4% in 5th grade, well below the district average of 21.1%. By contrast, reading proficiency stays steady across grade levels and has improved over the past two years, rising from 26.9% to 35.2%. Nearby schools serving similar populations show these results are not inevitable. Dworshak Elementary School, just a few miles away in Burley, serves a similar share of low-income students yet achieves 45.4% math proficiency and 58.7% reading proficiency — roughly double Heyburn's scores. Declo Elementary School also posts much stronger results, with 53% math and 56.2% reading proficiency.

Attendance is another concern. Heyburn's chronic absenteeism rate of 18.7% means nearly one in five students misses enough school to fall behind academically. That is higher than the district average of 14.5% and more than double the rate at Dworshak, which sits at 8.5%. The school also spends less per student than most nearby elementary schools, which may limit instructional resources. While Heyburn currently ranks in the bottom 5% of Idaho elementary schools, its recent progress in reading and the success of neighboring schools like Dworshak and Declo — both serving similar student populations — show that improvement is possible with targeted efforts to boost attendance and strengthen upper-grade math and science instruction.