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
511	Jefferson Elementary School	Public	K-6	1000 Mulberry Ave	Muscatine	52761	Muscatine County	Muscatine Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(563) 263-8800	441	37	12	68.0%	213 (48.3%)	37 (8.4%)	160 (36.3%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (6.3%)	$13,574			$956			$12,618	14.5	19.5	470	41		192013001187
512	Iowa Connections Academy Elementary	Public, Virtual	K-5	807 Third St	Anita	50020	Cass County	CAM Community School District	No	(n/a)	Yes	No	(712) 581-0200	216	0		56.5%	133 (61.6%)	14 (6.5%)	34 (15.7%)	7 (3.2%)	4 (1.9%)	2 (0.9%)	22 (10.2%)	$9,858			$24			$9,835	14.4	19.5	471	41		190594002180
513	Clarke Community Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	231 S Kossuth St	Osceola	50213	Clarke County	Clarke Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(641) 342-6320	652	55	11.8	60.1%	332 (50.9%)	4 (0.6%)	281 (43.1%)	4 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	13 (2.0%)	17 (2.6%)	$12,335			$680			$11,656	13	11.3	505	8		190741000351
514	Jackson Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	3825 Indianola Ave	Des Moines	50315	Polk County	Des Moines Independent Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(515) 242-8415	490	33	14.9	80.6%	101 (20.6%)	107 (21.8%)	199 (40.6%)	55 (11.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	27 (5.5%)	$15,448			$1,376			$14,072	12.9	10.2	512	2		190897000547
515	Highland Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	812 Idaho St	Waterloo	50703	Black Hawk County	Waterloo Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(319) 433-2630	448	38	11.9	89.5%	126 (28.1%)	115 (25.7%)	131 (29.2%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (3.1%)	59 (13.2%)	$12,711			$1,327			$11,383	12.8	12	502	13		193048001970
516	Demoney Elementary	Public	PK, KG-4	109 S 17th Street	Estherville	51334	Emmet County	Estherville Lincoln Central Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(712) 362-2181	460	40	11.4	55.2%	282 (61.3%)	6 (1.3%)	159 (34.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (2.8%)	$13,659			$648			$13,013	12.5	36.9	402	114		191107000684
517	River Woods Elementary School	Public	K-5	2929 SE 22nd St	Des Moines	50320	Polk County	Des Moines Independent Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(515) 242-8433	493	43	11.5	86.8%	59 (12.0%)	93 (18.9%)	231 (46.9%)	88 (17.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (4.5%)	$15,278			$1,674			$13,604	12.1	7.7	521	4		190897000728
518	Garfield Elementary School	Public	K-5	902 E 29th St	Davenport	52803	Scott County	Davenport Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(563) 723-6450	393	28	13.9	59.0%	167 (42.5%)	103 (26.2%)	64 (16.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	59 (15.0%)	$13,920			$1,169			$12,751	12.1	7.3	524	6		190858000465
519	Hoover Elementary School	Public	K-5	4141 Johnson AVE NW	Cedar Rapids	52405	Linn County	Cedar Rapids Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(319) 558-2369	420	39	10.6	87.6%	81 (19.3%)	258 (61.4%)	33 (7.9%)	6 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (2.1%)	33 (7.9%)	$15,359			$1,346			$14,013	11.9	15.6	485	34		190654000248
520	Harrison Elementary School	Public	K-5	1310 11th ST NW	Cedar Rapids	52405	Linn County	Cedar Rapids Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(319) 558-2269	277	22	12.5	65.7%	121 (43.7%)	69 (24.9%)	38 (13.7%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.4%)	8 (2.9%)	37 (13.4%)	$15,848			$1,116			$14,732	11.8	4.8	539	19		190654000245

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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.

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