Original Research by School Decision on Borah Elementary School
Borah Elementary sits on Borah Avenue in Coeur d'Alene, serving kindergarten through fifth grade as part of the Coeur d'Alene School District. It is a regular public school, neither a charter nor a magnet, drawing from the residential neighborhoods of a city that blends lakefront resort character with a working civic core.
The school's enrollment is moderate for an elementary building, fairly evenly distributed across grades with second grade as the largest cohort. Just over half the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, which places Borah among schools serving a mix of working-class and middle-class families. The student population is predominantly white, with a Hispanic contingent and smaller groups across several other racial and ethnic categories. Data on individualized education programs and English learner status was not reported, and Title I status was not available either, so those details are left out rather than guessed. Because the school ends at fifth grade, there is no graduation rate to report.
On state testing, Borah shows near-full participation across all tested grades and subjects. The Idaho ISAT results from the most recent year are reported by the state as proficiency ranges rather than exact figures, a reflection of student-count suppression for smaller groups. In mathematics, third grade falls in a band with a low ceiling, fourth grade in a tighter and moderate band, and fifth grade in a wider band reaching toward a moderate level. English language arts shows a similar pattern, with third grade in the lowest band, fourth grade reaching toward a moderate level, and fifth grade landing in the highest and tightest band among the grades tested. Fifth-grade science sits in a band with a moderate ceiling. The ranges leave considerable uncertainty about exactly where proficiency lands in each grade, but fifth-grade ELA appears to be the relative bright spot, and earlier grades show more ground to cover. Average scale scores were not reported, and no multi-year trend data was available, so whether these levels are improving or declining over time cannot be determined from what is on hand.
A parent weighing these results may want to ask the school directly about its approach to early literacy and numeracy, given that third-grade outcomes sit in the lower bands. The available data does not include program offerings, course access details, staffing ratios, attendance figures, or discipline records, so questions about classroom size, specialist support, enrichment, and school climate would need to go to the school or district office.
Coeur d'Alene itself is a city shaped by its lake and its growth. Publicly reported sources describe a community that shifted from a logging economy to a mix of manufacturing, retail, services, and tourism, anchored by the Coeur d'Alene Resort on the downtown waterfront. The city sits on the north shore of Lake Coeur d'Alene and serves as the county seat of Kootenai County. It has grown steadily over the past several decades, drawing residents from other western states. The downtown core is walkable, with parks, a floating boardwalk, and the Tubbs Hill natural area, while outer neighborhoods are more car-dependent with Interstate 90 running through. The city sits a short drive east of Spokane, forming a bi-state regional corridor. Major employers include Kootenai Health, the resort, North Idaho College, and government offices. Seasonal tourism, including lake recreation and events like a holiday light show and an Ironman triathlon, shapes the local rhythm.
The housing market in the school's zip code runs well above both the state and national benchmarks for typical home values, with rents also elevated relative to those benchmarks. Home values have been appreciating, and the estimated monthly mortgage on a typical home in this area is substantially higher than typical rent, which means ownership is a steeper climb than renting for families moving in. This context matters for Borah because the cost of living around the school is higher than much of Idaho, even as the share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch reflects economic diversity within that pricier setting.
The district brief searched for recent parent-relevant changes in the Coeur d'Alene School District and found little of lasting impact, so there is no specific district-level shift to flag. For a family considering Borah, the picture is a neighborhood elementary in a growing lakefront city, with moderate state test results, solid participation, and a community where housing costs run high.
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