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Penn Elementary School

Q: Is Penn Elementary School a good school?

Penn Elementary School ranks 73 rd of 576 Iowa elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 4 stars out of 5.

Public Grades PK, KG-5

73^rd

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 576 Iowa Elementary Schools

Better than 87% of Iowa elementary schools

Summary

Penn Elementary School is a public elementary school located in North Liberty, Iowa, serving grades PK-6 with a total enrollment of 560 students. The school is part of the Iowa City Community School District, which is ranked 241 out of 313 districts in Iowa and has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Penn Elementary School has consistently performed well in recent years, ranking among the top 20% of Iowa elementary schools. In the 2024-2025 school year, the school ranked 73rd out of 576 Iowa elementary schools and received a 4-star rating from SchoolDigger. The school consistently outperforms the Iowa City Community School District and the state of Iowa in standardized test scores across all grade levels and subject areas. For example, in 4th grade English Language Arts, Penn Elementary School had a 95.8% proficiency rate, compared to 75% for the district and 76% for the state.

While Penn Elementary School has experienced a higher chronic absenteeism rate compared to previous years, reaching 27.9% in the 2022-2023 school year, it is still lower than the district average of 23.4%. Additionally, the school has a relatively low percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch, ranging from 12.6% to 13.65% in recent years, significantly lower than the rates at some nearby schools, such as Kirkwood Elementary (74.91%) and Central Elementary (55.97%). Penn Elementary School's strong academic performance and efficient resource allocation suggest that it is providing a quality education to its students.

512

Students ?

15.4

Student/teacher ratio ?

$12,509

Per pupil spending ?

13.3%

Free/discounted lunch ?

230 N Dubuque St
North Liberty, IA 52317

(319) 688-1150

District: Iowa City Community School District

Students who attend Penn Elementary School usually attend:

Middle:	North Central Middle School
High:	Liberty High School

Racial breakdown:

White:

75.6%

African American:

8.4%

Hispanic:

8.4%

See top rated Iowa elementary schools

Compare Penn Elementary School to nearby elementary schools!

At a glance

▲ Ranking trend: Improving — 57th percentile in 2015 → 87th in 2025

Strengths

✓Test scores above the Iowa average (84% vs 71% meeting standards)

✓Ranks in the top 13% of Iowa elementary schools

✓Ranking is trending up — up 30 percentile points since 2015

Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?

This school84%

District avg68%

Iowa avg71%

73^rd of 576

Iowa public elementary schools ?

Top 13%▲ up 31 pts since 2015

From top 43% (2015) to top 13% (2025)

See the entire ranking list of Iowa Elementary Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

2^nd of 18Elementary Schools in the Iowa City Community School District

241^st of 313Iowa City Community School District among Iowa districts

Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)

Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Iowa percentile	Rating
2025	80.2	73 of 576	87.3%	★★★★☆
2024	75.9	103 of 557	81.5%	★★★★☆
2023	79.2	85 of 565	85.0%	★★★★☆
2022	83.0	66 of 574	88.5%	★★★★☆
2021	82.8	65 of 567	88.5%	★★★★☆
2019	56.2	282 of 603	53.2%	★★★☆☆
2018	67.6	187 of 567	67.0%	★★★☆☆
2017	56.7	299 of 574	47.9%	★★☆☆☆
2016	63.4	250 of 599	58.3%	★★★☆☆
2015	62.0	266 of 616	56.8%	★★★☆☆
2014	61.5	260 of 603	56.9%	★★★☆☆
2013	56.2	319 of 624	48.9%	★★☆☆☆
2012	58.3	291 of 626	53.5%	★★★☆☆

By subject vs Iowa (2024-2025) ?

English Language Arts87%+16 vs state

Mathematics85%+11 vs state

Science74%+9 vs state

★

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Schools Near Penn Elementary School

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				ISASP English Language Arts (2025)			ISASP Mathematics (2025)			ISASP Science (2025)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	ISASP English Language Arts 3rd Grade	ISASP English Language Arts 4th Grade	ISASP English Language Arts 5th Grade	ISASP Mathematics 3rd Grade	ISASP Mathematics 4th Grade	ISASP Mathematics 5th Grade	ISASP Science 5th Grade	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Penn Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	230 N Dubuque St	North Liberty	52317	Johnson County	Iowa City Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 688-1150	512	33	15.4	13.3%	387 (75.6%)	43 (8.4%)	43 (8.4%)	12 (2.3%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (5.1%)	80.2	73^rd of 576 public elementary schools	87.3%		75.9	103^rd of 557 public elementary schools	81.5%	30	83.9	95.8	81.9	88.5	90.1	75.3	73.6	$12,509	$453	$12,055
Buford Garner Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	80 Birch Street	North Liberty	52317	Johnson County	Iowa City Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 688-1190	344	25	13.5	31.1%	209 (60.8%)	46 (13.4%)	40 (11.6%)	5 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.9%)	41 (11.9%)	45.2	367^th of 576 public elementary schools	36.3%		48.9	343^rd of 557 public elementary schools	38.4%	24	63.8	77.4	59.0	75.9	75.5	67.2	63.9	$12,209	$291	$11,917
Christine Grant Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1000 North Bend Drive	North Liberty	52317	Johnson County	Iowa City Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 688-1500	426	32	13.2	18.5%	321 (75.4%)	51 (12.0%)	24 (5.6%)	6 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (5.6%)	67.7	195^th of 576 public elementary schools	66.1%		64.8	201^st of 557 public elementary schools	63.9%	6	78.7	82.1	75.0	85.2	75.6	81.9	68.1
James Van Allen Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	170 Abigail Ave	North Liberty	52317	Johnson County	Iowa City Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 688-1185	376	26	14.6	30.3%	224 (59.6%)	49 (13.0%)	58 (15.4%)	25 (6.6%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (5.1%)	54.6	294^th of 576 public elementary schools	49.0%		47.2	349^th of 557 public elementary schools	37.3%	55	73.3	74.6	77.4	75.0	72.9	66.1	69.4	$12,084	$214	$11,870
North Bend Elementary	Public	K-3	2230 St Andrews Drive	North Liberty	52317	Johnson County	Clear Creek Amana Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 626-3950	326	25	13.0	30.4%	197 (60.4%)	58 (17.8%)	26 (8.0%)	8 (2.5%)	2 (0.6%)	1 (0.3%)	34 (10.4%)								(n/a)	77.2			84.8				$26,848	$381	$26,466
Wickham Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	601 Oakdale Blvd	Coralville	52241	Johnson County	Iowa City Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 688-1175	315	21	15.2	19.7%	182 (57.8%)	34 (10.8%)	17 (5.4%)	63 (20.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (6.0%)	92.8	6^th of 576 public elementary schools	99.0%		92.4	6^th of 557 public elementary schools	98.9%		91.4	100.0	89.7	94.3	93.6	94.9	87.2	$12,974	$451	$12,524
East Ridge Elementary	Public	4-5	2950 Crossing Ridge Dr	Coralville	52241	Johnson County	Clear Creek Amana Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(319) 545-2075	442	29	15.4	32.4%	309 (69.9%)	46 (10.4%)	45 (10.2%)	14 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (6.3%)	68.4	187^th of 576 public elementary schools	67.5%		58.8	264^th of 557 public elementary schools	52.6%	77		84.5	77.8		80.3	75.7	70.8
Oak Hill Elementary	Public	2-3	504 N Park Road	Tiffin	52340	Johnson County	Clear Creek Amana Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(319) 545-2248	173	13	13.4	30.6%	114 (65.9%)	19 (11.0%)	23 (13.3%)	6 (3.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (6.4%)								(n/a)
Tiffin Elementary	Public	K-1	104 N. Park Rd	Tiffin	52340	Johnson County	Clear Creek Amana Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(319) 545-2081	191	18	10.6	37.2%	107 (56.0%)	34 (17.8%)	22 (11.5%)	13 (6.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (7.9%)								(n/a)								$27,228	$701	$26,527
Kirkwood Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	1401 9th St	Coralville	52241	Johnson County	Iowa City Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(319) 688-1120	270	27	9.9	69.6%	62 (23.0%)	135 (50.0%)	47 (17.4%)	7 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (7.0%)	7.7	538^th of 576 public elementary schools	6.6%		18.4	477^th of 557 public elementary schools	14.4%	61	33.3	66.7	40.5	36.7	60.6	37.8	32.4	$15,376	$1,350	$14,026

Frequently Asked Questions about Penn Elementary School

What schools do graduates of Penn Elementary School attend?

Students who attend Penn Elementary School usually go on to attend:

Middle : North Central Middle School
High : Liberty High School

What district is Penn Elementary School in?

Iowa City Community School District

Is Penn Elementary School a good school?

Penn Elementary School ranks 73^rd of 576 Iowa elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 4 stars out of 5.

How many students attend Penn Elementary School?

In the 2024-25 school year, 512 students attended Penn Elementary School.

What is the racial makeup of Penn Elementary School?

Students at Penn Elementary School are 76% White, 8% African American, 8% Hispanic, 5% Two or more races, 2% Asian.

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Schools in North Liberty, IA

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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Iowa Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.