Three Peaks School

Three Peaks School is a public K–5 elementary school in Cedar City, Utah, serving 646 students in a growing area near several other elementary schools and operating within the mid-ranked Iron District. The school’s current statewide standing is a concern: it ranks 372nd of 563 Utah schools, at the 34th percentile, with a 2-star rating. This is a significant change from earlier years, when the school ranked between the 56th and 67th percentiles. Its 2024–2025 student-teacher ratio was 20.3, and 40.56% of students qualified for free or reduced-price lunch.

Academic results are currently below district and state averages in nearly every tested area. English Language Arts proficiency was below 40% in grades 3–5, while mathematics ranged from 42.3% to 48.6%. Science was also relatively weak, at 43.8% in fifth grade and 45.4% in fourth grade. Fifth grade stands out as an important area for improvement, especially compared with Iron Springs School, where fifth-grade math and science proficiency reached 66.1% and 69.9%. Enoch School also posted stronger fifth-grade results and ranks at the 66th percentile statewide. Other nearby schools, including Cedar South School and Fiddlers Canyon School, currently rank well above Three Peaks.

Attendance is another important issue: 24.6% of Three Peaks students were chronically absent in 2024–2025, compared with 14.4% in the district and 23.8% statewide. Although this is an improvement from 31.6% in 2021–2022, it remains high enough to affect learning and intervention efforts. One encouraging finding is the school’s strong statewide effectiveness ranking for students from low-income households, at the 88th percentile. Families may want to ask about attendance supports, upper-elementary math and science instruction, reading interventions, and how the school is using practices that appear to support this subgroup.