Orofino High School

Orofino High School is a combined junior/senior high school serving 360 students in grades 7–12 in the Orofino Joint District in Orofino, Idaho, a small town in the north-central part of the state. The school has made a dramatic comeback in recent years, jumping from the 8th percentile in Idaho's 2022–2023 state rankings to the 59th percentile (3 stars) in 2025–2026, when it ranked 50th of 122 high schools statewide.

Academically, the school shows a notable split between grade levels. On the 2025–2026 ISAT tests, end-of-course ELA proficiency reached 76.2 percent, well above the state average of 61.3 percent. But 8th grade ELA came in at just 35 percent, more than 19 points below the state, and 8th grade science (29.5 percent) also lagged. Math proficiency across grades fell below the state average. The graduation rate, however, has climbed from 70.9 percent in 2021–2022 to 82.5 percent in 2024–2025, now exactly matching the state average.

The school's biggest non-academic challenge is chronic absenteeism, which stood at 26.2 percent in 2025–2026 — roughly double the state's 13.8 percent, though improved from 40 percent a few years ago. There is also a notable gender gap: in the most recent subgroup data, female students ranked at the 33rd percentile while male students ranked at the 11th. Interestingly, Timberline High School, the smaller sister campus in the same district, outperforms Orofino on most test metrics despite spending less than half per student ($6,238 vs. $14,935) and serving a higher percentage of low-income students — an outcome worth examining for families comparing the two schools.