Best Elementary Schools in Iowa

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Find the best Iowa elementary schools with SchoolDigger.com! Focused on test scores for accurate rankings, our user-friendly site simplifies your search. Empower your decisions by exploring top-rated schools, only on SchoolDigger.com - the ultimate guide to K-12 schools!

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish Iowa test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the ISASP test scores by the Iowa Department of Education. The most recent update was on Wednesday, August 20, 2025.

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School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)							Ranking (2025 vs 2024)					ID
Rank (of 576)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Average Standard Score (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Rank (2024)	Rank Change from 2024	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	ID
331	Wilton Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-6	1210 Cypress St	Wilton	52778	Muscatine County	Wilton Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(563) 732-2880	509	31	16.3	32.4%	454 (89.2%)	2 (0.4%)	37 (7.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (2.8%)	$11,938			$305			$11,634	50.3	68.3	178	153		193180001849
332	Northwood-Kensett Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1200 1st Ave North	Northwood	50459	Worth County	Northwood-Kensett Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(641) 324-1127	287	19	15	30.0%	262 (91.3%)	2 (0.7%)	16 (5.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (2.4%)	$10,614			$468			$10,147	50	45.6	359	27		192121001270
333	Poyner Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1138 Central Ave	Evansdale	50707	Black Hawk County	Waterloo Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(319) 433-1534	362	31	11.5	59.9%	226 (62.4%)	39 (10.8%)	37 (10.2%)	4 (1.1%)	1 (0.3%)	6 (1.7%)	49 (13.5%)	$13,693			$1,573			$12,118	49.1	31	440	107		193048001546
334	Clive Learning Academy	Public	PK, KG-6	1600 73rd Street	Des Moines	50324	Polk County	West Des Moines Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(515) 633-5800	551	43	12.6	59.7%	250 (45.4%)	100 (18.1%)	99 (18.0%)	41 (7.4%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	59 (10.7%)	$14,178			$481			$13,696	49	50.2	327	7		193093001789
335	Pocahontas Area Elementary School	Public	K-6	208 1st Ave SW	Pocahontas	50574	Pocahontas County	Pocahontas Area Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(712) 335-4642	265	18	14.9	50.2%	224 (84.5%)	2 (0.8%)	28 (10.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	10 (3.8%)	$16,192			$791			$15,400	49	57.5	276	59		192319001372
336	Bluff Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	1421 S Bluff Blvd	Clinton	52732	Clinton County	Clinton Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(563) 242-1606	372	32	11.7	63.4%	244 (65.6%)	36 (9.7%)	35 (9.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	55 (14.8%)	$15,909			$1,821			$14,089	48.7	54.8	302	34		190771000597
337	Olmsted Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	7110 Prairie Avenue	Urbandale	50322	Polk County	Urbandale Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(515) 457-5100	622	49	12.8	51.0%	319 (51.3%)	88 (14.1%)	104 (16.7%)	72 (11.6%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	37 (5.9%)								48.6	44.7	366	29		192868002302
338	Northwest Elementary School	Public	K-5	1202 W First St	Ankeny	50023	Polk County	Ankeny Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(515) 965-9680	346	27	12.8	37.3%	224 (64.7%)	20 (5.8%)	56 (16.2%)	5 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	41 (11.8%)	$12,743			$644			$12,099	48.6	55.1	298	40		190369000074
339	Sioux Central Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	4440 U.S. Hwy 71	Sioux Rapids	50585	Buena Vista County	Sioux Central Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(712) 283-2571	229	21	10.9	45.4%	179 (78.2%)	1 (0.4%)	42 (18.3%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	5 (2.2%)	$12,124			$630			$11,494	48.4	58.6	266	73		190002301541
340	Griswold Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	20 Madison St.	Griswold	51535	Cass County	Griswold Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(712) 778-2154	227	21	10.6	36.6%	215 (94.7%)	1 (0.4%)	8 (3.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.3%)								48.4	46.6	350	10		191323002264

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About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on ISASP English Language Arts, ISASP Mathematics, ISASP Science test scores released by the Iowa Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on August 20, 2025, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the Iowa Department of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the Iowa Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences