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
231	Altoona Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	301 6th St SW	Altoona	50009	Polk County	Southeast Polk Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(515) 967-3771	429	35	12.2	53.4%	277 (64.6%)	66 (15.4%)	45 (10.5%)	9 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.7%)	29 (6.8%)	$14,305			$587			$13,718	63.5	73.5	122	109		192682001566
232	Glidden-Ralston Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-6	602 Idaho St.	Glidden	51443	Carroll County	Glidden-Ralston Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(712) 659-2205	227	18	12.7	35.7%	218 (96.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (3.5%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$13,937			$458			$13,480	63.5	56	290	58		191275000771
233	North Cedar Mechanicsville Elementary Center	Public	PK, KG-6	609 125th St.	Mechanicsville	52306	Cedar County	North Cedar Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(563) 432-6933	139	12	11.7	47.5%	127 (91.4%)	3 (2.2%)	6 (4.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.2%)	$16,868			$1,178			$15,689	63.5	70.2	160	73		191710001000
234	Southeast Valley Elementary	Public	PK, KG-4	3116 Zearing Ave	Farnhamville	50538	Calhoun County	Southeast Valley Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(515) 370-2861	223	16	13.9	51.1%	197 (88.3%)	1 (0.4%)	10 (4.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (6.7%)								63.3			(n/a)		199901902324
235	Lucia Wallace Elementary School	Public	3-4	729 E Kennedy	Algona	50511	Kossuth County	Algona Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(515) 295-7296	226	16	14.4	39.4%	196 (86.7%)	1 (0.4%)	25 (11.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	2 (0.9%)	$12,938			$254			$12,684	63	61.1	239	4		190336000033
236	Hawarden Elementary School	Public	2-5	800 13th St	Hawarden	51023	Sioux County	West Sioux Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(712) 551-1454	193	20	9.6	63.7%	95 (49.2%)	3 (1.6%)	90 (46.6%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.0%)	$13,347			$1,065			$12,282	62.9	57.5	277	41		193129001819
237	Louisa-Muscatine Elementary	Public	PK, KG-6	14506 170th St	Letts	52754	Louisa County	Louisa-Muscatine Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(319) 726-3634	468	37	12.7	38.7%	419 (89.5%)	1 (0.2%)	39 (8.3%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.5%)	$12,487			$443			$12,042	62.8	69.7	165	72		191782001023
238	Meeker Elementary School	Public	K-5	300 20th Street	Ames	50010	Story County	Ames Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(515) 239-3770	361	32	11.2	42.1%	253 (70.1%)	19 (5.3%)	34 (9.4%)	9 (2.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	44 (12.2%)	$13,221			$1,032			$12,190	62.7	63.8	216	22		190354000056
239	Strawberry Hill	Public	PK, KG-4	203 Hamilton Court	Anamosa	52205	Jones County	Anamosa Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(319) 462-3549	400	31	12.9	41.3%	363 (90.8%)	1 (0.3%)	18 (4.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (4.3%)	$13,229			$855			$12,374	62.5	50	329	90		190357000064
240	Mapleton Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	501 South 7th	Mapleton	51034	Monona County	Maple Valley-Anthon Oto Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(712) 881-1319	182	15	12.3	54.9%	174 (95.6%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (2.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.6%)	$16,504			$818			$15,685	62.2	69.8	162	78		191848001059

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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:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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Virtual Schools: The Future of Online Education