The top reported proficiency rate is 58% in Math. The lowest is 38% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Hawthorne Elementary School
Hawthorne Elementary sits on Targee Street in Boise, serving prekindergarten through sixth grade as part of Boise Independent District. It is a regular public school, small for its grade band, and the enrollment spans a fairly even distribution across the early grades. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student body is diverse, with white students forming the largest group alongside meaningful Asian and Hispanic populations and a smaller multiracial presence. The school does not report IEP or English learner figures in the data available, so those proportions are unknown here.
On state assessments, Hawthorne's results are mixed across grades and subjects, with some genuinely strong spots alongside areas where proficiency dips. In math, fourth grade stands out as a clear strength, with most tested students reaching proficiency. Third and sixth grade land in a moderate range. Fifth grade math is a soft spot, with fewer than expected students proficient. A parent looking at the full picture would want to understand what shifts between fourth and fifth grade, whether it reflects a cohort issue or a curricular transition. The data alone does not answer that.
English language arts tells a somewhat different story. Sixth grade is a bright point, with a solid majority proficient. Fifth grade is middling. Third and fourth grade ELA results were suppressed in the state data, reported only as ranges, so a precise read is not possible for those grades. Science was tested only in fifth grade, where proficiency was low. This is a single grade in a single year, so it warrants context rather than alarm, but it is worth asking the school about.
No trend data was reliable enough to draw from here. The multi-year series returned inconsistent values, so rather than guess at a direction, it is left out.
Boise itself shapes the environment around Hawthorne in ways a family should weigh. The city is Idaho's capital and largest urban center, with a mix of government, technology, and education driving the regional economy. Micron Technology, Albertsons, J.R. Simplot Company, IDACORP and Idaho Power, and Boise State University are all anchored here. The downtown core has a walkable concentration of restaurants, cultural venues, and civic institutions, and the Boise River Greenbelt threads through the city as an extensive trail system. Outside that corridor, the city tilts toward auto-oriented suburban development, particularly in the foothills and outer areas. The broader Treasure Valley has experienced sustained population growth and in-migration, which has put pressure on housing and schools.
The housing market in Hawthorne's zip code sits below the state benchmark for typical home values, making it relatively more accessible than some Boise areas, though still above national figures. Rents have risen over the past year. The rent-to-income ratio is in a manageable range for most households, while the price-to-income ratio for buyers is elevated, reflecting the broader affordability challenge across the region. Mortgage rates remain high by recent historical standards. For a family considering the neighborhood, renting is meaningfully less costly month to month than carrying a mortgage, which may factor into near-term decisions.
What the data does not cover is also worth naming. There is no Title I status reported, no discipline or course access data, no staffing ratios, and no attendance figures. The district brief turned up little in the way of publicly reported changes of lasting impact. These gaps mean the picture here is built mainly from assessment results, enrollment, and the surrounding community context.
Hawthorne is a small, diverse neighborhood school with some strong grade-level outcomes, particularly in upper-grade ELA and mid-elementary math, alongside weaker fifth grade results in both math and science. For a family weighing it, the most productive step would be asking school leadership about the fifth grade dip, how the school supports students across the transition into upper elementary, and what interventions are in place.
See more original research from School Decision →