North Star Charter School, Eagle ID

Original Research by School Decision on North Star Charter School

North Star Charter School sits on North Linder Road in Eagle, an affluent suburb northwest of Boise. It is a public charter school serving kindergarten through twelfth grade, operating as its own district under the name North Star Charter School, Inc. The campus draws families from a community that has grown rapidly over several decades, transforming from a small town into a residential city with high incomes and expensive housing. The surrounding ZIP code carries home values well above both the Idaho and national benchmarks, and rents have risen sharply in recent months as well. Eagle is car-dependent, with a small historic downtown core along State Street, extensive parks and trails along the Boise River, and a greenbelt pathway connecting it to Boise. Most of the city falls within the West Ada School District, but North Star operates independently of that system as a charter of choice.

The academic picture from the most recent Idaho ISAT results is strong in the elementary grades. Math proficiency in third grade is exceptionally high, and it remains well above state expectations through fourth and fifth grades. English language arts results tell a similar story, with fifth-grade ELA proficiency particularly high and eighth-grade ELA also performing well. Science proficiency in eighth grade is solid. These are meaningful strengths that reflect well on the school's early-grade instruction.

Middle-grade math is a softer area. Sixth-grade and eighth-grade math proficiency drop noticeably compared to the elementary results, with seventh grade landing somewhere in between. This is a pattern some families will want to ask about directly, since the gap between elementary and middle-grade math performance is visible in the state data.

The school has a relatively large enrollment for a charter, spread across all thirteen grades, though the high school grades are quite small. Classes at the high school level are intimate, which some families see as an advantage for individual attention and others may find limiting in terms of breadth of electives or peer groups. The student body is predominantly white, with Hispanic students representing the next largest group and smaller populations of Asian, multiracial, and other students. Free-or-reduced-price lunch data was not reported, so the economic profile of the student body cannot be characterized from the available data. Special education and English learner rates were also missing, which limits the picture of student support services.

Several categories of data that parents often ask about were not available. No graduation rate was reported in the data provided. Course access, discipline, staffing, and attendance information were absent as well. A parent weighing these dimensions would need to contact the school directly.

Eagle itself is a community shaped by growth and affluence. Publicly reported accounts describe California retiree spending, particularly from CalPERS pension recipients, as a driving force in the local economy. The city emphasizes downtown revitalization and quality of life in its economic development strategy. Housing costs are high relative to the state and the nation, which shapes who can live in the attendance area and may influence the school's demographic profile.

A major change is underway. North Star has announced a merger with Rolling Hills Charter, effective for the 2025-26 school year, publicly reported as the first charter-to-charter merger in Idaho. Under the new structure, the current Eagle campus will serve as a combined elementary and middle school, while the high school will relocate to a new site on North Horseshoe Bend Road in Boise, adjacent to the Optimist Youth Sports fields. Families with high school students should expect a shift in where classes are held, and families considering the school at any grade level may want to ask how the merger affects programming, staffing, and admissions.

For a family weighing North Star, the strongest draws are the elementary-grade academic results, the small-school feel across all grades, and the location in a growing, well-resourced suburb. The questions worth bringing to the school directly are the middle-grade math trajectory, the breadth of high school programming given the small upper-grade enrollment, and how the Rolling Hills merger will reshape the experience for students at every level.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

>=80%Cohort of 23 students · Class of 2021

The federal source publishes a banded range instead of an exact rate when the graduating cohort is small enough that an exact number could risk identifying individual students.

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

219 schools plotted. 4 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grade 394%

School 94% · District 94%

▲ 41 pts above state median · ▲ 33 pts above county median

Grade 482%

School 82% · District 82%

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

Grade 580%

School 80% · District 80%

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 26 pts above county median

Grade 660%

School 60% · District 60%

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 769%

School 69% · District 69%

▲ 26 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 860%

School 60% · District 60%

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 591%

School 91% · District 91%

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

Grade 678%

School 78% · District 78%

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 778%

School 78% · District 78%

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 885%

School 85% · District 85%

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

Science

Grade 876%

School 76% · District 76%

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

This schoolNORTH STAR CHARTER SCHOOL INC., same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.