The top reported proficiency rate is 65% in Math. The lowest is 56% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Betty Kiefer Elementary School
Betty Kiefer Elementary School sits in Rathdrum, a growing small city in the Idaho Panhandle positioned at the crossroads of State Highways 41 and 53, a short drive northwest of Coeur d'Alene and east of Spokane. Rathdrum retains a historic downtown along Main Street, with buildings dating to the late nineteenth century, including Saint Stanislaus Church, the oldest brick church in Idaho. The town has experienced rapid residential growth as part of the broader Coeur d'Alene metropolitan area, shifting from its origins as a mining-era supply point and county seat toward a commuting and residential community. The BNSF Railway line runs through town, though passenger service does not stop here. Betty Kiefer is part of the Lakeland District and serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school.
The enrollment is moderate for an elementary building, with students distributed fairly evenly across kindergarten through fifth grade. The student body is predominantly white, with small Hispanic and multiracial populations represented. About a quarter of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a relatively modest share. Data on individualized education programs and English learner status were not reported, so those dimensions of student support remain unclear here.
On state assessments, the most recent ISAT results show a clear pattern. Third grade math proficiency is strong, with a clear majority of tested students meeting the state bar. Fourth grade math remains solid, with most students proficient. By fifth grade, math proficiency dips to about half of tested students. English language arts results for fifth grade show a solid majority proficient, while third and fourth grade ELA proficiency was reported as a range rather than a single figure, which can happen when subgroup counts are suppressed. Fifth grade science proficiency sits at about half of tested students. Average scale scores and participation rates were not available. Trend data was too limited to characterize whether performance is improving or declining over time.
The housing market around Betty Kiefer is one of the more demanding aspects for families considering the area. Typical home values in the school's zip code sit well above both the Idaho state benchmark and the national benchmark, and the price-to-income ratio is elevated. Monthly mortgage costs are substantially higher than typical rents, which run at a more manageable share of household income. For families weighing a purchase versus renting near the school, the gap between buying and renting is wide.
Several categories of information that parents often look for were absent from the available data. The school's Title I status was not reported. Discipline data, course access, staffing ratios, and attendance figures were not available. Program offerings, such as gifted services, special education specifics, or extracurricular activities, were not included. No neighbor comparison data was provided to position Betty Kiefer against nearby elementary schools. Civil rights data was not reported. The district brief for Lakeland District did not return substantive content on recent bonds, levies, or strategic initiatives, so we left that out rather than guess. Because this is an elementary school serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, graduation rate data does not apply.
What the available data does show is an elementary school in a fast-growing panhandle community, with solid early-grade math results that soften by fifth grade, a relatively homogeneous student body, and a housing market that runs hot. The academic picture is mixed but grounded, with younger students performing well and older grades showing more room to grow. A parent may want to look into the fifth grade math decline with the school, and the missing layers of context, from staffing to programs to district-level investments, are worth asking about directly.
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