The top reported proficiency rate is 72% in English language arts. The lowest is 69% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Cecil D Andrus Elementary
Cecil D. Andrus Elementary sits on the western side of Boise, in the part of the city where established suburban neighborhoods meet the broader Treasure Valley growth corridor. It is a regular public school serving prekindergarten through fifth grade, part of Joint School District No. 2, one of Idaho's largest and most familiar district systems. The campus on Park Meadow Drive draws from a residential pocket where single-family homes dominate and the Boise River Greenbelt, downtown, and the major employment centers of the city are all within a modest drive.
Academically, the most recent state assessment results paint a consistent picture across the tested grades. In math, proficiency rises steadily from third grade through fifth, with each successive grade showing a higher share of students meeting or exceeding the state bar. English language arts follows the same pattern, and the fifth-grade reading results stand out as particularly strong, with a clear majority of tested students reaching proficiency. Science was assessed only in fifth grade, and those results were reported as a range rather than a single point figure, with underlying counts suppressed for privacy. Taken together, the reading and math results suggest a school where students tend to enter the tested grades on solid footing and build from there, with the upper elementary years showing the strongest outcomes. A parent comparing these results to statewide patterns would see a school performing well above typical Idaho elementary results.
The enrollment is moderate for an elementary building in this part of Boise. The student body is predominantly white, with a Hispanic population making up the next largest group and smaller Asian, multiracial, and Black populations rounding it out. A relatively small share of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, which places Andrus among the more economically advantaged schools in its district and in the broader Boise area. Information on students receiving special education services or English learner support was not available in the data we reviewed, so a parent whose child needs those services would want to ask the school directly about what is offered. No discipline, attendance, staffing, or course-access data was provided, and those are gaps worth raising with the school if they matter to a family's decision.
The housing market around Andrus Elementary reflects Boise's position as a growing capital city with a strong technology and government employment base. Home values in the school's zip code sit close to the statewide benchmark and well above the national one, which means buying into this attendance area requires a budget that assumes an above-average Idaho price point. Renting is meaningfully cheaper than carrying a mortgage at current interest rates, with the monthly gap between the two favoring renters by a substantial margin. For families already settled in the area, this is a stable, established residential setting. For families considering a move, the cost of entry is real, and the rental market, while less expensive than owning, has been trending upward.
Boise itself has absorbed sustained in-migration over the past decade, driven partly by technology investment from employers like Micron and partly by the city's appeal as a mid-sized capital with outdoor access and a walkable downtown core. The broader metro includes Nampa and Meridian, and the growth pressure across the valley affects school capacity and planning. Joint School District No. 2's recent publicly reported changes did not surface specific items of lasting impact in our search, so we left that section aside rather than infer.
What Andrus offers a family is a neighborhood elementary school with solid and improving state assessment results, a peer group drawn from a relatively advantaged residential area, and a location that keeps a family connected to Boise's employment and cultural core without being in the densest part of the city. The missing data on special populations and school environment is the main limitation, and a parent would do well to fill those gaps in conversation with the school before deciding.
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