The top reported proficiency rate is 55% in English language arts. The lowest is 41% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Farmin Stidwell Elementary School
Farmin Stidwell Elementary sits in Sandpoint, the largest city in Bonner County and the county seat, serving students from preschool through sixth grade as part of the Lake Pend Oreille School District. It is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and its enrollment is mid-sized for an elementary covering that broad a grade span.
The academic picture from the most recent Idaho ISAT results is mixed but mostly solid in the upper elementary grades. In English language arts, proficiency rates across grades three through six sit around the midpoint or above, with fourth and sixth grades standing out as the strongest. Math follows a similar pattern for grades three, four, and six, where roughly half to a clear majority of tested students reached proficiency. Fifth grade math is the clear soft spot, with a notably lower proficiency rate than the other tested grades. A parent may want to look into what is happening in that grade specifically, whether it reflects a cohort effect or a curricular transition. Science, tested only in fifth grade, sits below the math and ELA results for that same grade, which is a pattern common to many elementary schools but worth asking about.
No multi-year trend data was available that would allow a confident read on whether these results are improving or declining. Participation rates were not reported. IEP and English learner counts were missing from the data, so the share of students receiving special education services or language support cannot be characterized here. The school's Title I status was also not reported.
The student body is predominantly white, with a Hispanic presence and a smaller group identifying as two or more races. Other racial and ethnic groups appear in very small numbers or not at all. A moderate share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which gives a sense of the economic mix without pointing to concentrated poverty.
Sandpoint itself is a working town with a tourism layer. Forest products, light manufacturing, and government services anchor the local economy, and Schweitzer Mountain Resort drives a year-round tourism sector. The downtown is compact, sitting along U.S. Route 2 near the shore of Lake Pend Oreille, with the Cedar Street Bridge Public Market, the historic Panida Theater, City Beach, and an Amtrak depot that is the only one in Idaho. Seasonal events like the Festival at Sandpoint summer music series, the Winter Carnival, and the Lost in the 50s car show bring street life at different points in the year. Fare-free public transit through the Selkirks-Pend Oreille Transit Authority runs two routes in town. The city has been growing, and the housing market reflects that pressure. Home values in the school's zip code sit well above the state benchmark and well above the national benchmark, with an estimated monthly mortgage that is substantially higher than local rents. For a family weighing a purchase against renting, the gap between those two costs is wide, and the price-to-income ratio is elevated. Rents are more moderate relative to income, which may make renting the more accessible entry point for families moving into the area.
We looked for the district's recent parent-relevant changes and found little that could be confirmed, so that is left out rather than guessed. No data on discipline, course access, staffing ratios, or attendance was available for this school, and no program offerings were listed. No comparison fact-set was provided to position this school against its neighbors in Bonner County.
What the picture supports is a school serving a broad elementary grade span in a growing, tourism-adjacent northern Idaho town, with generally adequate state assessment results, a clear dip in fifth grade math and science that warrants a question, and a housing market that leans expensive for buyers. A family drawn to Sandpoint's outdoor access and small-city civic life would find a conventional public elementary pathway here, with the caveat that several data points families often ask about, from special education enrollment to staffing, were not available in the materials reviewed.
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