Best Elementary Schools in Zip Code 83647

This analysis covers six elementary schools serving zip code 83647—including traditional public schools, public charter schools, and a tiny rural school—spanning grades PK through 8 in a mix of Mountain Home-area and rural settings. The clear standout is Fern-Waters Public Charter School, which ranks in the 83rd percentile statewide (4 stars) and is the only school in the group to exceed state averages in both math (65.6% vs. 43.1%) and ELA (72.0% vs. 54.0%). Among the three Mountain Home District elementary schools, West Elementary School is the strongest, with math proficiency above the state average, though its ELA scores lag; East Elementary School and North Elementary School rank much lower (16th and 3rd percentiles, respectively). Richard McKenna Charter School – Montessori falls in between, at the 42nd percentile, while Prairie Elementary/Junior High School is an extreme outlier with just 6 students and no reported test scores.

For parents, the biggest takeaway is that charter schools in this area generally outperform the traditional district schools. Fern-Waters is the clear top choice academically, with strong performance across grade levels and subjects. Richard McKenna offers a Montessori option with smaller classes (16.4 student-teacher ratio) and decent, though recently declining, test scores—it dropped from the 50th to 42nd percentile year over year. Within the Mountain Home district, West is the best bet among the three traditional elementary schools, despite chronic absenteeism of 24% and a high free/reduced lunch rate (63.85%). East and North are both below state proficiency averages in math and ELA, and North is especially concerning: it has the highest chronic absenteeism (25.1%), the lowest math proficiency (28.4%), and a particularly severe 4th-grade math gap (18.3% vs. 48.0% statewide). Prairie Elementary is not comparable to the others due to its tiny enrollment and per-student spending of $67,427, which skews any cost comparisons.

Across the whole area, chronic absenteeism is a systemic issue—all three Mountain Home schools report rates near double the state average of 13.8%. Poverty is also concentrated in these traditional schools, with 59–64% of students eligible for free/reduced lunch, while the charters do not report this data. Fern-Waters stands out not just for test scores but for consistency across grades, showing strength even in 7th and 8th grade math and ELA. The charters also benefit from slightly lower student-teacher ratios (16.4) than the district schools (19.3–20.5), likely contributing to their relative success. Overall, if you’re choosing a school in this zip code, Fern-Waters is the clear academic leader, West is the strongest traditional option, and North is the school most in need of attention.