Ephraim Middle

Ephraim Middle is a public school serving grades 6–8 in the rural Sanpete County area of Utah, with 495 students in the South Sanpete District. It is larger than nearby Gunnison Valley Middle, with 262 students, and North Sanpete Middle, with 355. Ephraim ranks 60th of 217 Utah middle schools, placing it in the 72nd percentile with a four-star rating. Its ranking has improved substantially from the early 2020s, although it dipped modestly from the 75th percentile in 2024–25.

Academic performance is generally strong, especially in grades 7 and 8. In 2025–26, ELA proficiency was 56.1% in grade 7 and 57.2% in grade 8, while math proficiency reached 63.3% and 57.4%. Science was also strong in those grades, at 58.9% and 63.4%. These results are well above state averages and substantially higher than Gunnison Valley Middle in most seventh- and eighth-grade subjects. Ephraim also led North Sanpete Middle by roughly 19–25 points in most comparable measures. A notable exception is sixth grade: only 23.5% of sixth graders were proficient in math, below the state’s 37.4%, and sixth-grade ELA and science were also weaker than upper-grade results.

One of Ephraim’s clearest strengths is its effectiveness with students from low-income backgrounds: that subgroup ranked 13th of 139 Utah schools, in the 91st percentile. The main concerns are outside test performance. Chronic absenteeism was 24.2% in 2024–25, slightly above the district and state rates and well above North Sanpete Middle’s 18.4%. Ephraim also had a higher student-teacher ratio, 20.5:1, than both nearby schools. Overall, it stands out as the strongest-performing comparison school, particularly in upper-grade math and science, while sixth-grade support and attendance are important areas to monitor.