C.S. Lewis Academy

C.S. Lewis Academy serves 224 students in kindergarten through sixth grade in Santaquin, a small Utah community, and operates as its own district rather than as part of nearby Nebo District. The school’s latest ranking is 535th out of 563 Utah schools, placing it at the 5th percentile with a 0-star rating. This is well below nearby schools such as Spring Lake School and Park View School, which ranked at the 72nd and 70th percentiles, respectively. The school’s district also ranks near the bottom statewide, at 90th of 92 districts.

Academic results are low across all tested subjects. In English language arts, proficiency ranged from 20–40.5% in third grade, was 21.9% in fourth grade, ranged from 20–40% in fifth grade, and ranged from 10–40% in sixth grade, compared with state results generally above 44%. Mathematics is an especially significant concern: third-grade proficiency was 10–29%, fourth-grade proficiency was 25%, and fifth-grade proficiency was under 20%, compared with state results of 50.1%, 50.4%, and 45%. Science proficiency was 22.5% in fourth grade, 20–39% in fifth grade, and 10–30.5% in sixth grade. Nearby schools generally posted stronger results, although a few had lower scores in individual grades.

Attendance is another major concern. In 2024–2025, 52.3% of students were chronically absent—more than twice Utah’s 23.8% rate and higher than every listed nearby school, including Apple Valley School and Orchard Hills School. More than half of students were chronically absent in three of the five years shown. The school also had the highest free/reduced-price lunch rate in the comparison group, at 53.57%, providing important context about student needs. At the same time, its 17.9:1 student-teacher ratio is the lowest among the comparison schools, suggesting that large class sizes alone do not explain the results. The clearest improvement priorities are reducing absenteeism and strengthening foundational mathematics.