The top reported proficiency rate is 68% in English language arts. The lowest is 51% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on A J Winters Elementary School
A J Winters Elementary serves pre-K through fifth grade in Montpelier, the largest community in the Bear Lake Valley of southeastern Idaho. Montpelier sits at the intersection of U.S. Routes 89 and 30, with a downtown corridor along Washington Street that holds museums, restaurants, and historic buildings. The surrounding region is agricultural, rooted in farming and ranching, with a history tied to the Oregon Trail, the railroad, and phosphate mining. The town retains a small-town feel while functioning as a regional hub. Bear Lake, a major recreational draw, lies a short drive to the south. An LDS Temple, publicly reported as announced and under construction in recent years, adds a new civic-religious landmark to a community where such a project carries weight. No public library or public transit system was identified in publicly reported sources.
The school is a regular public school within the Bear Lake County District, not a charter or magnet. Its enrollment is moderate for an elementary serving this grade band. Nearly half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is predominantly white, with a small Hispanic presence and very few students from other racial or ethnic backgrounds. Data on individualized education programs and English learner status was not available, so those populations cannot be characterized here.
On state assessments, the clearest picture comes from English language arts. Third-grade proficiency sits near the midpoint, while fourth and fifth grades show stronger results, with a clear upward pattern across the upper elementary grades. This is a genuine strength. Math results are partial. Third-grade math proficiency was reported at a moderate level, while fourth- and fifth-grade math scores were suppressed, meaning the state withheld specific figures, likely for privacy reasons tied to small group sizes. The ranges provided suggest wide possible outcomes, so a parent may want to look into this further with the school. Fifth-grade science was also suppressed for the same reason.
The school has no graduation rate, which is expected because it serves only elementary grades. No civil-rights data, course-access information, staffing figures, attendance records, or discipline data were available in the provided materials. Program offerings were not listed. Title I status was not reported, though the proportion of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch suggests the school may serve a population that would typically be eligible for that designation.
The housing market in the school's zip code sits well below both the state and national benchmarks for typical home values, and recent movement has been downward. This positions Montpelier as a relatively affordable place to buy a home compared with much of Idaho. Rent data was not available. The broader economic context includes a national unemployment rate that has held steady and a mortgage rate environment that remains elevated by recent historical standards.
No information was available on district-level referenda, levies, or recent strategic changes in the Bear Lake County District. The district brief searched for levy and referendum activity but returned no usable results, so that context is left out rather than guessed.
For a family considering this school, the academic signal in English language arts is encouraging, with proficiency building across the upper elementary grades. Math and science results are harder to read because of suppression, and the gaps in staffing, program offerings, and special-population data mean a visit or call to the school would help fill in what the public data cannot. The community itself is small, stable, and rooted in agriculture and regional history, with housing costs that compare favorably to much of the state.
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