The top reported proficiency rate is 60% in Math. The lowest is 43% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Jackson Elementary
Jackson Elementary sits in the heart of Jackson, Wyoming, a small resort town that serves as the commercial and civic hub of Teton County and a gateway to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. The town blends a historic western downtown, centered on Town Square with its antler arches and the Wort Hotel, with residential neighborhoods and highway-oriented commercial strips. Tourism drives the local economy, with ski resorts, lodging, dining, and outdoor recreation shaping daily life. The town covers only a few square miles and has a compact, walkable core, with a pathway network supporting biking and walking. Major employers include the mountain resorts, St. John's Health, the school district, and the National Park Service. Public transit through START bus connects Jackson to Teton Village and neighboring valleys.
The school serves kindergarten through fifth grade and draws a student body that is predominantly white, with a substantial Hispanic presence and small shares of other groups. A modest portion of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, below what many public elementary schools see. The school is a traditional public school, not a charter or magnet. Data on English learners and students with individualized education programs was not available, so those demographics cannot be characterized here.
On state assessments through WY-TOPP, Jackson Elementary shows a mixed but generally solid profile. Third graders posted strong proficiency in both math and English language arts, and fifth graders performed even better, reaching high proficiency in both subjects. The fourth grade, though, stands out as a weaker cohort, with proficiency dropping well below the third and fifth grades in both math and ELA, and science proficiency in fourth grade landing in the same lower range. Full participation across all tested grades means these results reflect the full student body rather than a partial sample. The pattern of strong third and fifth grade results bookending a softer fourth grade is something a parent may want to look into further with the school, to understand whether it reflects a cohort effect, a curricular transition point, or something else.
The comparison set for Teton County includes only a small handful of districts, which is too few to generate a meaningful proficiency index. So no peer positioning is offered here, and a parent should treat the state results above as the primary academic evidence rather than looking for a county ranking.
Jackson's housing market is among the most expensive in the country relative to income. Typical home values sit far above both state and national benchmarks, and rents are high as well. The affordability gap is severe, with the estimated monthly mortgage on a typical home running well into five figures and rents consuming a large share of median household income. Less than a small fraction of land in Teton County is privately owned, with the rest federally or state managed, which concentrates development in and around the town and constrains supply. This affects who can live in the attendance zone and shapes the school community.
Teton County School District #1 has been working to address the housing crisis directly. Voters approved a workforce housing bond in November 2024 to build housing for district employees on district-owned land, repaid through property taxes. The district has lost a substantial portion of its workforce in recent years due to housing costs, and this initiative aims to stabilize teacher retention. That retention question matters for classroom continuity at schools like Jackson Elementary, where staffing stability directly affects the experience of younger students.
What a family gets at Jackson Elementary is a traditional public elementary school in a tight-knit resort community with strong academic results in the grades that bracket the school, a softer middle grade that warrants a closer question, and a peer environment shaped by the realities of an extraordinary housing market. The town offers walkability, cultural life, and natural access that few places can match, but the cost of living is a defining constraint on who settles here and how long educators stay.
See more original research from School Decision →