The top reported proficiency rate is 60% in English language arts. The lowest is 36% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Colome Elementary - 02
Colome Elementary sits at the eastern edge of Tripp County in a very small rural town where the school is one of the central institutions of community life. The town itself was built around agriculture and, during the fall, draws visitors from far afield for hunting. Publicly reported descriptions emphasize world-class hunting grounds and local businesses that depend on that seasonal influx. The built environment is compact, with a numbered street grid and a short downtown corridor along which City Hall and the Fire Hall anchor civic life. There is no public transit, and no parks or public library were identified in available sources, which is consistent with a community of this size.
The school serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade and is part of the Colome Consolidated 59-3 district. Enrollment is small, with all grades combined in a single building. The student body is predominantly white, with a meaningful American Indian and Alaska Native presence and a small share of students identifying as two or more races. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic profile of the surrounding community. Data on individualized education programs and English learner status was not reported, so those support contexts are not available here.
On the most recent state assessments, Colome Elementary's English language arts results stand out as a relative strength. A clear majority of tested students reached proficiency in ELA, which is a solid mark for a school of this size and setting. Math proficiency was more mixed, with fewer than half of tested students meeting the bar. Science results were lower still, though the number of students tested in science was quite small, which makes that figure less stable from year to year. Every student who was enrolled for testing participated, so the results reflect the full eligible group rather than a partial sample. The tested counts across all three subjects are small, which means a few students moving in or out can shift results noticeably. A parent looking at these numbers may want to ask the school how it tracks progress for individual students across cohorts, since single-year proficiency rates in a small school can swing with normal population changes.
The broader district context matters for any family considering this school. Colome Consolidated recently went through a publicly reported reorganization in which voters approved splitting the Wood and Witten communities away from the district and redirecting them to White River and Winner. That vote was close and came after an earlier attempt failed. The reorganization shrinks the district's geographic footprint and reduces its taxable assessed value by a meaningful margin. The impetus was the closure of the Witten school building in 2021 and the Wood school building in late 2022, the latter because the district could not hire a teacher for the site. Families in those outlying areas now face long bus rides to Colome or have been redirected to neighboring districts. For families living in Colome itself, the elementary school remains the local option, but the district's finances and boundaries are in a period of adjustment.
Several data points that parents often look for were not available. No staffing ratios, attendance rates, discipline data, or course access information were provided. Title I status was not reported. The school's locale classification and any specialized programs were not listed. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say from these data whether the current proficiency rates represent improvement, decline, or stability. Without that longitudinal context, the single-year results are best read as a snapshot rather than a trajectory.
What the available picture does show is a small rural elementary school serving a close-knit community with genuine academic strength in reading and language arts, uneven results in math and science, and a student population where economic need is common. The district's recent contraction adds a layer of uncertainty about long-term resources, but the school remains the educational anchor for Colome families with young children. A parent evaluating this school would do well to visit, ask about how the district reorganization affects staffing and programming, and get a sense of how the small class sizes translate into individual attention for students at different levels.
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