Gunnison Valley School

Gunnison Valley School is a public prekindergarten–fifth-grade school serving 584 students in Gunnison, Utah, and is the largest of four nearby elementary schools in the South Sanpete School District. The district ranks 34th of 92 Utah districts, while the school ranks 227th of 563 Utah schools for 2025–2026, placing it at the 60th percentile with a three-star rating. That puts it below Ephraim School but above Manti School and Salina School. Its ranking has improved from the low 40th percentile during 2020–2021 and 2021–2022, although it declined from a particularly strong 76th-percentile result in 2024–2025.

The school’s clearest academic strength is mathematics, especially in the upper grades. In 2025–2026, 60.3% of fifth graders were proficient in math, compared with 45.0% statewide and 50.9% districtwide. Gunnison Valley also led all three nearby schools in fifth-grade math, including Ephraim, and exceeded Manti in mathematics at every grade. Math proficiency rose from 52.9% in third grade to 57.2% in fourth and 60.3% in fifth. English Language Arts is the main improvement area: results were 41.4% in third grade, 48.9% in fourth, and 42.4% in fifth, below district results at each grade. Science scores were above state levels but slightly below district results.

Gunnison Valley has been especially effective for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, ranking in the 85th percentile statewide for this subgroup in 2025–2026. Attendance is another positive trend: chronic absenteeism fell from 35.6% in 2021–2022 to 24.0% in 2024–2025, the lowest rate among the four nearby schools, though still slightly above the district’s 21.9%. Overall, the school offers stronger mathematics and attendance results than Manti and Salina, while Ephraim remains the stronger nearby academic competitor. Key priorities are sustaining recent gains, improving ELA consistency, maintaining science performance, and reducing absenteeism further.