Best Public Schools in Carson, IA

Summary:

The city of Carson, Iowa has one public elementary school, Carson Elementary, which serves grades 3-5 and is part of the Riverside Community School District. With a total enrollment of 136 students, Carson Elementary has a mixed academic performance, ranking 386 out of 576 Iowa elementary schools based on its SchoolDigger rating of 2 out of 5 stars.

The school's performance on the ISASP (Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress) tests has been inconsistent, with some grade levels exceeding the state average in English Language Arts and Mathematics, while others fall below. Additionally, the school has a high rate of free and reduced-price lunch recipients at 52.21%, indicating a significant socioeconomic challenge for the student population. The school's chronic absenteeism rate of 21.6% is also relatively high, which can negatively impact student learning and academic achievement.

While Carson Elementary faces some challenges, the school's student-teacher ratio of 13.7 is slightly lower than the state average, and its per-student spending for the 2018-2019 school year was $13,420. By addressing the areas of inconsistent academic performance, high poverty rates, and chronic absenteeism, the school and the Riverside Community School District can work to improve the educational outcomes for the students of Carson, Iowa.

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
Carson Elementary	Public	3-5	330 Pleasant St	Carson	51525	Pottawattamie County	Riverside Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(712) 484-2291	134	10	13.3	48.5%	102 (76.1%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (14.2%)	2 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.7%)	10 (7.5%)	42.1	386^th of 576 public elementary schools	33.0%		36.3	407^th of 557 public elementary schools	26.9%	21	72.3	66.7	58.5	72.3	66.7	68.3	68.3	$13,420	$375	$13,046

Cities Near Carson

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Oakland	3.59 mi	3	250^th
Treynor	9.67 mi	3	6^th
Griswold	14.68 mi	2	267^th
Avoca	16.48 mi	3	79^th
Underwood	17.12 mi	3	28^th

See the top IA Iowa cities

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.