Original Research by School Decision on Bingham Academy
Bingham Academy was a tuition-free public charter high school in Blackfoot, Idaho, serving grades nine through twelve under the independent charter district Idaho STEM Academy Inc. The most important thing a parent needs to know is that the school is no longer operating. Publicly reported records from the Idaho Public Charter School Commission show that on a date in late August of this year, the Bingham Academy board voted to close the school, with the closure taking effect within the same week. This eliminates the only public charter high school option in the district. Families who might have been considering Bingham Academy will need to seek alternative high school placements, and the account below describes the school as it was before closure.
The school was small, with a total enrollment well under a hundred students across its four grade levels. The senior class was the largest, with a substantial group, while the freshman class was quite small. The student body was predominantly white, with a sizeable Hispanic minority and a smaller but present Asian student population. A few students identified as American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, or two or more races. No Black students were enrolled. Data on free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, special education services, or English learner status was not available, so the economic and linguistic profile of the student body cannot be characterized from what was provided.
Academically, the available state assessment data tells a troubling story. The school's ELA proficiency rate showed a steep decline over the period covered, falling from a level that was above average to a level that was quite low. Only a single year of data points was available in the trend series, and no proficiency data was provided for mathematics or science. The drop in ELA proficiency is substantial enough that a parent would have wanted to look into this further with the school, though that option is now moot given the closure. No graduation rate data, college readiness indicators, or program offerings were provided in the data. Course access information, staffing details, and attendance figures were also absent.
Blackfoot sits in Bingham County as the county seat, a small city rooted in irrigated agriculture and potato processing. Publicly reported sources describe it as the self-proclaimed Potato Capital of the World, home to the Idaho Potato Museum and the Eastern Idaho State Fair. The local economy centers on potato growing and processing, with the nearby Idaho National Laboratory also contributing to regional employment. The city has a traditional small-town grid with a business district along Broadway, tree-lined streets that once earned it the nickname Grove City, and limited walkability outside the downtown core. Jensen Grove Park offers recreation near the Snake River. Growth has been gradual and steady rather than rapid, consistent with its character as an agricultural county seat. The broader area is served by Blackfoot School District and Snake River School District, both of which operate traditional public high schools that would now be the main options for families previously served by Bingham Academy.
Housing in the area is relatively affordable compared to the state benchmark. Typical home values sit below the statewide level, and rents are modest. The local housing market has seen mild year-over-year appreciation. For families looking at the broader Blackfoot area, housing costs would not be a barrier the way they might be in more expensive Idaho markets.
Bingham Academy is now closed, and the data that was available suggests the school was already on a difficult academic trajectory before that decision was made. The decline in ELA proficiency over the reported period was steep, and key pieces of information about student support, graduation outcomes, and program offerings were not available in the data. Parents in the Blackfoot area looking for public high school options will now be directed to the traditional district schools in the area, which operate on separate campuses spread across the city and surrounding region.
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