Paradise Creek Regional High School

Paradise Creek Regional High School is a very small public high school in Moscow, ID, serving 21 students in grades 8 through 12 as part of the highly rated Moscow District. Its defining feature is the intensely individualized environment: a 7:1 student-teacher ratio—far lower than the 16.7:1 at Moscow High School—and per-student spending of $21,748, about double the $10,700 spent at Moscow High.

The school's academic performance is mixed but encouraging in places. On the 2025-2026 ISAT, science proficiency reached 61.5%, essentially matching Moscow High School's 62.4% and far surpassing the state average of 41.2%. English Language Arts proficiency, however, lagged at 53.8%, well below the Moscow District's 80.9% and the state's 61.3%. Graduation rates tell a hopeful story, jumping from 41.2% in 2020-2021 to roughly 82.5% by 2024-2025—a significant turnaround for a school where 42.9% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, compared to 19.3% at Moscow High School.

Chronic absenteeism, at 36.4%, remains the biggest hurdle—more than double the state average of 13.8% and well above Moscow High's 18.8%. Despite these challenges, Paradise Creek earned a 4-star rating (70th percentile) for 2025-2026, outperforming Kendrick Junior/Senior High School (0 stars, 9th percentile) and posting a higher science score than Potlatch Junior/Senior High School. Because the school is so small, a single student's results can shift the numbers noticeably, but the overall trend—rising graduation rates and strong science scores—suggests meaningful progress for students who carry heavier burdens than their peers in the district.