Summary:
Payson, Utah, has eight public schools serving about 6,049 students in the Nebo District, including five elementary schools, two middle schools, and one high school. Overall performance varies considerably by grade level: elementary schools tend to perform better, while attendance and academic results become more concerning in middle and high school. The district ranks 49th among 92 Utah districts, placing it near the middle statewide.
The strongest overall schools are Spring Lake School and Park View School. Both earned four-star ratings, ranked around the 70th statewide percentile, improved substantially over three years, and had the city’s lowest chronic absenteeism rates. Taylor School also performed reasonably well and had the lowest student-teacher ratio, although its absenteeism rate was high. Barnett School and Wilson School had more uneven academic results and relatively high absenteeism. Among middle schools, Mt. Nebo Middle ranked higher and posted stronger test results than Payson Junior High, but both had chronic absenteeism near 38 percent.
Payson High presents a mixed picture. Its 94.8 percent graduation rate and 4.2 percent dropout rate are better than state averages, but its overall ranking was near the bottom statewide, with especially weak mathematics proficiency at 14.1 percent. Mathematics is also a major concern in several middle-school grades. For parents, the most important questions are how schools support attendance, the transition into middle school, and students who need additional math help. Spring Lake and Park View offer useful local examples of strong achievement combined with better attendance, while the secondary schools may need the greatest support.
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