Best Public Schools in Zearing, IA

Summary:

The city of Zearing, Iowa has only one school, Colo-Nesco Elementary School, which serves students from kindergarten through 4th grade and is part of the Colo-NESCO Community School District. The school has seen a concerning decline in its statewide ranking and rating over the past few years, dropping from 238th out of 565 Iowa elementary schools in 2022-2023 to 424th out of 576 in 2024-2025, and its SchoolDigger rating has decreased from 3 stars to 1 star during this time.

Academically, Colo-Nesco Elementary School's performance is mixed. While its 4th-grade English Language Arts (ELA) proficiency rate of 68% is closer to the state average of 76%, its 3rd-grade ELA proficiency rate of 54.2% is significantly lower than the state average of 67.9%. In mathematics, the school's 3rd-grade proficiency rate of 75% is slightly lower than the state average of 75.8%, and its 4th-grade proficiency rate of 72% is also lower than the state average of 74.3%. Additionally, the school has a high chronic absenteeism rate of 21.6%, which is significantly higher than the state average.

Despite the school's higher-than-average spending per student of $14,066 and a lower-than-average student-teacher ratio of 12.1, these resources do not appear to be translating into improved academic outcomes. The school's economic challenges, with 42.68% of its students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, may be contributing to the performance issues. Overall, the data suggests that Colo-Nesco Elementary School faces significant challenges in providing a high-quality education to its students, and further investigation into the root causes and potential solutions would be beneficial.

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)		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 Mathematics 3rd Grade	ISASP Mathematics 4th Grade	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Colo-Nesco Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-4	407 N Center	Zearing	50278	Story County	Colo-NESCO Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(641) 487-7411	169	15	11.5	50.9%	144 (85.2%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (7.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (7.7%)	36.2	424^th of 576 public elementary schools	26.4%		55.8	292^nd of 557 public elementary schools	47.6%	132	54.2	68.0	75.0	72.0	$14,066	$671	$13,396

Cities Near Zearing

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Mc Callsburg	4.28 mi	1
Roland	9.87 mi	1	15^th
Hubbard	9.88 mi	1	375^th
Colo	10.44 mi	1	312^th
Nevada	11.79 mi	3	97^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.