Summary:
Zip code 83316 is home to two high schools—Buhl High School and Wakapa Academy—both serving grades 9–12 under the Buhl Joint District, which carries a 1-star rating and ranks 91st out of 101 Idaho districts. Buhl High School is the area's main comprehensive school with 347 students, making up nearly 97% of the 358 high schoolers in the zip code. Wakapa Academy is a much smaller alternative-style school with just 11 students. Parents should note that while Buhl High School reports a 16:1 student-teacher ratio and a 40.92% free/reduced-price lunch rate, Wakapa Academy does not report these figures, likely due to its extremely small enrollment.
The two schools differ sharply in chronic absenteeism. In 2023–24, Buhl High School had an absenteeism rate of 8.8%, far below the district's 17.7% and the state's 13.8%. Wakapa Academy, however, had a rate of 31.3%—more than 3.5 times higher than Buhl's. This suggests Wakapa may serve a higher-need or at-risk population, though with only 11 students, a single student represents about 9% of enrollment, so these percentages can shift dramatically. Both schools report a graduation rate of 82.5% for 2024–25, but that figure is identical to the district and state averages, which is suspicious and likely a reporting artifact rather than a true reflection of school-level performance.
Per-student spending is nearly the same: $10,439 at Buhl High School and $10,276 at Wakapa Academy, a difference of just $163. Buhl High School's historical performance has declined, dropping from the 45th percentile in 2014–15 to the 27th percentile in 2016–17, and its star rating fell from 2 to 1. The district's current 10th-percentile ranking indicates ongoing challenges. For parents, the key takeaway is that Buhl High School is the larger, more traditional option with moderate poverty levels and relatively low absenteeism, while Wakapa Academy is a tiny alternative program that is harder to evaluate due to limited data and its very small student body.
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