Dora Erickson Elementary School, Idaho Falls ID

Original Research by School Decision on Dora Erickson Elementary School

Dora Erickson Elementary sits on Cleveland Street in Idaho Falls, serving pre-kindergarten through sixth grade as part of Idaho Falls School District 91. It is a regular public school in a city that functions as the commercial, cultural, and healthcare hub for Eastern Idaho and parts of Wyoming and Montana. The local economy, once agricultural, now leans heavily on Idaho National Laboratory employment and has built out its retail and medical sectors over the past several decades.

The school's enrollment is moderate for an elementary spanning seven grade levels. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, marking Dora Erickson as a school serving a high-poverty community. The student body is predominantly white, with a large Hispanic minority and very small representation from other racial groups. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not available, so those populations cannot be characterized here.

On the 2024-25 Idaho ISAT, math proficiency hovered around a quarter to just under a third of tested students across grades three through six, with fifth and sixth grade results dipping lower. ELA results were somewhat stronger, with roughly a third of students reaching proficiency in most tested grades, though fifth grade again came in lower. Science, tested only in fifth grade, showed very low proficiency, with the reported proficient count at zero and the rate given in a range starting at zero. These results are below what most communities would consider acceptable, and a parent may want to look into how the school is responding to these outcomes with the school directly.

Trend data was thin and did not allow for a reliable read on whether proficiency is improving or declining over time.

The surrounding housing market offers homes at a typical value below the state benchmark but above the national one, with rents that sit below the estimated monthly mortgage cost for a buyer. That gap between renting and owning matters for families weighing their options in the neighborhood. The mortgage rate environment and price-to-income ratio sit near national norms, so the cost picture is not unusual for the region.

Idaho Falls itself provides a solid setting for a family. The Snake River winds through the city with an extensive trail system, and the downtown core along the river offers restaurants, shops, the Museum of Idaho, the Colonial Theatre, and a farmers' market. Research and university facilities, including INL's education campus and the College of Eastern Idaho, sit just north of downtown. The city has grown steadily, and the Snake River Landing development on the west side continues to add residential and community space near the interstate.

Information on staffing, discipline, attendance, course access, Title I status, and specific program offerings was not available in the data provided. The district brief turned up little on recent changes or strategic priorities, so that context is left out rather than guessed. No graduation rate applies, since the school does not serve high school grades.

For a parent considering Dora Erickson, the picture is of a neighborhood elementary in a growing regional hub, serving a community where most students face economic hardship and producing state test results that are low across subjects. The city offers amenities and stability. The academic outcomes at this school are the central concern, and families would be well served by asking school leadership how they are working to raise proficiency.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 329%

School 29% · District 42% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Grade 429%

School 29% · District 44% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Grade 521%

School 21% · District 37% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Grade 622%

School 22% · District 38% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 336%

School 36% · District 41% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 435%

School 35% · District 48% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 527%

School 27% · District 48% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▼ 27 pts below county median

Grade 633%

School 33% · District 48% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

This schoolIDAHO FALLS DISTRICT, 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.