The top reported proficiency rate is 63% in Science. The lowest is 59% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Laura Irwin Elementary
Laura Irwin Elementary sits in Basin, the county seat of Big Horn County, Wyoming, and serves children from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as part of Big Horn County School District #4. The school shares a single campus with Riverside Middle School and Riverside High School, with the middle and high school occupying one building adjacent to the elementary. Basin itself is a small, slow-growing rural town in the Bighorn Basin, a place that publicly bills itself as a "farmer's town" and the "Lilac City" for the hedges and shade trees lining its streets. The local economy runs on bentonite mining, farming, sugar beet and bean processing, and tourism, with county government, the Wyoming Retirement Center nursing home facility, the postal service, and the school district itself serving as anchors of employment. Housing in the area runs well below the state and national benchmarks, and recent market data shows the typical home value climbing at a solid year-over-year pace, making this one of the more affordable corners of Wyoming for a family looking to buy.
The student body is small, as one would expect in a town of this size, and predominantly white, with a Hispanic minority and a few students identifying as two or more races or American Indian and Alaska Native. A little over half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which gives a sense of the economic mix within the community. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not available, so families whose children receive those services may want to ask the school directly about what supports are in place.
On the most recent state assessments, Laura Irwin's results are a genuine strength. Math proficiency is strong and consistent across the tested grades, with most students scoring proficient or above in third, fourth, and fifth grade. English language arts shows a similar pattern, with third and fifth grade performing well, though fourth grade lagged behind the others. Science proficiency for fourth grade was also strong. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency sits in the top quartile relative to districts in Big Horn County, which is a meaningful marker for a rural elementary school. Every tested grade had full participation, which speaks to the school's ability to get students in front of the assessment. The one soft spot is that fourth-grade ELA proficiency dipped below the other grades, and a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand whether it reflects a cohort effect or something about instruction in that year.
There is no graduation rate or chronic absenteeism data for this school, and that is expected. Laura Irwin is an elementary school serving grades that are not part of the state's graduation cohort, and absenteeism figures were not reported in the data we received. A missing result like this should not be read as a weak spot; it reflects the grade band.
The school does not operate as a charter or magnet, and Title I status was not reported. Program offerings, staffing details, discipline data, and attendance information were not available in the data we reviewed, so we cannot describe extracurriculars, specialized instruction, or school climate measures from the provided material. A family considering enrollment would benefit from asking the district about what enrichment or intervention programs exist beyond the core curriculum, especially given the small staff and student body.
What a parent gets at Laura Irwin is a small, rural elementary school with strong academic results in a close-knit agricultural community. The campus setup means children can stay on one site from kindergarten through high school, which gives continuity that larger districts often cannot match. Basin is quiet, affordable, and rooted in farming and civic life rather than commercial growth. For a family drawn to that setting, Laura Irwin offers solid academic ground to build on.
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