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
341	Dayton Center	Public	PK, KG-4	104 2nd St. NW	Dayton	50530	Webster County	Southeast Valley Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(515) 547-2314	200	17	11.9	51.0%	177 (88.5%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (7.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (3.0%)	$14,497			$498			$13,999	48.2	63.1	222	119		199901902077
342	Walcott Elementary School	Public	K-5	545 E James St	Walcott	52773	Scott County	Davenport Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(563) 445-5200	150	11	13.5	52.0%	133 (88.7%)	1 (0.7%)	6 (4.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.7%)	9 (6.0%)	$22,654			$537			$22,117	48.2	52	317	25		190858000484
343	Clay Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	3200 First Avenue S.	Altoona	50009	Polk County	Southeast Polk Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(515) 967-4198	700	43	16.4	36.1%	423 (60.4%)	98 (14.0%)	104 (14.9%)	22 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	53 (7.6%)	$12,723			$186			$12,537	48	61	242	101		192682001168
344	Perry Creek Elementary School	Public	K-5	3601 Country Club Blvd	Sioux City	51104	Woodbury County	Sioux City Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 279-6836	635	39	16.1	45.0%	315 (49.6%)	74 (11.7%)	169 (26.6%)	18 (2.8%)	16 (2.5%)	9 (1.4%)	34 (5.4%)	$12,156			$325			$11,830	47.8	65.5	195	149		192640002237
345	Perry Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1600 8th Street	Perry	50220	Dallas County	Perry Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(515) 465-5656	816	63	12.9	60.0%	329 (40.3%)	43 (5.3%)	402 (49.3%)	11 (1.3%)	4 (0.5%)	3 (0.4%)	24 (2.9%)	$14,186			$1,043			$13,142	47.7			(n/a)		192253000051
346	Longfellow Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-6	707 7th St	Belle Plaine	52208	Benton County	Belle Plaine Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(319) 444-3002	267	21	12.9	44.2%	229 (85.8%)	3 (1.1%)	20 (7.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (5.6%)	$13,593			$495			$13,099	47.7	57.4	278	68		190462000127
347	Sunnyside Elementary School	Public	K-4	2040 Sunnyside Ave.	Burlington	52601	Des Moines County	Burlington Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(319) 753-5244	298	28	10.6	56.0%	186 (62.4%)	45 (15.1%)	21 (7.0%)	3 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	43 (14.4%)	$14,081			$1,580			$12,500	47.6	62.5	225	122		190579000194
348	North Cedar Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-6	2419 Fern Ave	Cedar Falls	50613	Black Hawk County	Cedar Falls Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(319) 553-2810	292	22	13.3	49.7%	221 (75.7%)	25 (8.6%)	13 (4.5%)	4 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	28 (9.6%)	$14,328			$519			$13,809	47.6	63.9	209	139		190651000227
349	Schuler Elementary School	Public	4-5	501 East 11th St.	Atlantic	50022	Cass County	Atlantic Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(712) 243-1370	206	15	14	49.0%	171 (83.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (6.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (7.8%)	6 (2.9%)	$12,238			$720			$11,519	47.5	50.9	321	28		190393000412
350	West Elementary School	Public	3-6	1301 1st St W	Independence	50644	Buchanan County	Independence Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(319) 334-7430	360	32	11.2	39.4%	320 (88.9%)	1 (0.3%)	18 (5.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	20 (5.6%)	$12,958			$330			$12,628	47.4	56.2	285	65		191458000869

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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:

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Virtual Schools: The Future of Online Education

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