Saydel Community School District

The Saydel Community School District in Iowa operates three schools: Cornell Elementary School, Saydel High School, and Woodside Middle School. The district serves a relatively high percentage of students from low-income families, with free and reduced-price lunch rates ranging from 28.21% at Cornell Elementary to 60.37% at Woodside Middle School.

Cornell Elementary School stands out as a relative success story, with consistently high performance on ISASP tests, particularly in 3rd and 4th-grade English Language Arts and Mathematics. The school also has a relatively low chronic absenteeism rate of 21.6% and received a 3-star rating from SchoolDigger, the highest among the three schools in the district. In contrast, both Saydel High School and Woodside Middle School struggle academically, with proficiency rates on ISASP tests well below the state average in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science.

The district's secondary schools, Saydel High School and Woodside Middle School, consistently rank in the bottom half of their respective school types in the state, indicating a systemic issue within the district's secondary education. Understanding the factors that contribute to Cornell Elementary School's success could provide valuable insights for improving the district's secondary schools and addressing the needs of its economically disadvantaged population.