Best Elementary Schools in Zip Code 83251

Zip code 83251 is served by a single elementary school: Mackay Elementary School, a small PK–6 school in Mackay, Idaho, with 114 students and a 14.2 student–teacher ratio, operating within the Mackay Joint District, which ranks 42nd out of 101 Idaho districts. As the only elementary school in the area, Mackay Elementary defines the educational landscape here, and it stands out most notably for its exceptional attendance: its chronic absenteeism rate is just 7.8%, roughly half the district rate of 15.0% and well below the state average of 13.8%. The school also showed a strong rebound in state ranking, jumping from 248th (1 star, 26th percentile) in 2024–2025 to 175th (3 stars, 49th percentile) in 2025–2026, signaling meaningful year-over-year improvement.

Academically, the picture is mixed but encouraging. All-grades math proficiency improved from 19.7% to 25.0%, yet remains well behind the state average of 43.1%, making mathematics the school's clearest area for growth. Grade-level data reveals notable bright spots: 5th-grade math proficiency reached 50%, exceeding the state's 42.2%, while 3rd-grade ELA (53.3%) and 6th-grade ELA (54.5%) both surpassed state averages. Overall ELA proficiency sits at 48.4% — below the state's 54.0% but above the district's 47.3%. Because Mackay Elementary enrolls such a large share of the district's students, its scores nearly mirror district results in several grade-level subjects, meaning the school's performance essentially drives the district's overall numbers.

With 41.23% of students eligible for free/reduced lunch, Mackay Elementary serves a moderate proportion of low-income families, and its low absenteeism combined with above-average results in several grade levels are notable achievements in that context. The data does carry limitations — spending figures date to 2018–2019 and ranking history skips from 2012–2013 to 2024–2025 — but the overall picture is of a small, stable school with excellent attendance, targeted academic strengths in language arts and certain math grades, and a clear opportunity to improve schoolwide math proficiency.