Best High Schools in Zip Code 83709

Zip code 83709 in Boise, Idaho, is home to 4 high schools serving approximately 2,106 students across grades 6 through 12, including one traditional comprehensive high school, one alternative school, and two online schools. Three of the four schools belong to the Boise Independent District, which is ranked 41st out of 101 Idaho districts, while Empower Connections Academy belongs to Inspire Academics Inc.

The clear standout is Borah Senior High School, the largest school in the area with 1,308 students and the strongest academic performance. It is the only school where any subject reaches 40% proficiency, led by 44.9% in English Language Arts, though it still trails state averages in math and ELA. By contrast, Frank Church High School serves a much higher-need population with 79% free/reduced lunch eligibility and invests the most per student at $16,964, but its chronic absenteeism rate of 81.3% and very low proficiency in science (12%) and ELA (14%) reflect the challenges of serving at-risk students. Empower Connections Academy ranks near the bottom of the state at 111 out of 112 high schools, with just 10% math proficiency and a 67% chronic absenteeism rate. Boise Online School - Secondary showed dramatic improvement in ELA from 17% to 37.8%, but its math proficiency of 11.4% remains far below the state's 43.1%.

Chronic absenteeism is the most pressing issue across all four schools — every one exceeds the state rate of 13.8%, and even the best-performing school, Borah, sits at 25.0%. The online schools, in particular, struggle with math instruction, and the high spending at Frank Church shows that extra resources alone do not guarantee higher outcomes when students face significant barriers. Data gaps, including missing free/reduced lunch information for the online schools and unusable graduation rates, make direct comparisons imperfect, but the pattern is clear: Borah is the strongest local option, while the non-traditional schools face steeper challenges related to attendance and student needs.