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
101	Bronson Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-6	113 West 1st Street	Bronson	51007	Woodbury County	Lawton-Bronson Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(712) 948-3361	390	27	14.5	21.3%	366 (93.8%)	2 (0.5%)	9 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (3.3%)	$11,638			$548			$11,090	77.3	80	73	28		191644000980
102	Spirit Lake Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-4	709 28th Street	Spirit Lake	51360	Dickinson County	Spirit Lake Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(712) 336-2822	547	38	14.3	27.6%	477 (87.2%)	13 (2.4%)	33 (6.0%)	3 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	19 (3.5%)	$11,763			$432			$11,331	77.3	82.1	58	44		192700001584
103	Valerius Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	3305 92nd St	Urbandale	50322	Polk County	Urbandale Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(515) 457-6500	598	47	12.7	43.3%	363 (60.7%)	62 (10.4%)	73 (12.2%)	68 (11.4%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	30 (5.0%)								77.2	61.8	228	125		192868002325
104	Jefferson Intermediate	Public	4-6	801 E 13th St	Pella	50219	Marion County	Pella Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(641) 628-8267	494	35	14.1	16.6%	435 (88.1%)	5 (1.0%)	20 (4.0%)	10 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (2.0%)	14 (2.8%)	$9,617			$417			$9,200	77.2	75.5	109	5		192247000116
105	Southdale Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-6	627 Orchard Dr	Cedar Falls	50613	Black Hawk County	Cedar Falls Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 553-2900	539	39	13.8	22.1%	430 (79.8%)	23 (4.3%)	17 (3.2%)	33 (6.1%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.7%)	32 (5.9%)	$11,540			$473			$11,067	77.1	73.9	119	14		190651000230
106	Clear Creek Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	901 S 14th St	Clear Lake	50428	Cerro Gordo County	Clear Lake Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(641) 357-5288	685	47	14.4	32.1%	572 (83.5%)	7 (1.0%)	58 (8.5%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (6.6%)	$13,164			$528			$12,636	77.1	76	102	4		190762000362
107	Turkey Valley Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-6	3219 St Hwy 24	Jackson Junction	52171	Winneshiek County	Turkey Valley Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(563) 776-6011	198	18	11	28.8%	191 (96.5%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.5%)	$14,773			$743			$14,030	77.1	80.6	68	39		192811001639
108	Carver Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	2007 Radford Road	Dubuque	52002	Dubuque County	Dubuque Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(563) 552-4500	499	34	14.5	31.7%	433 (86.8%)	19 (3.8%)	11 (2.2%)	11 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.0%)	20 (4.0%)	$13,512			$211			$13,300	77	80.2	71	37		190948001532
109	West Elementary School	Public	3-5	707 Sharp St	Glenwood	51534	Mills County	Glenwood Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(712) 527-4886	440	30	14.7	46.6%	402 (91.4%)	4 (0.9%)	23 (5.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (2.5%)	$12,649			$257			$12,392	76.8	76.3	100	9		191269000770
110	Lincoln Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	300 Teeters Court	Iowa City	52246	Johnson County	Iowa City Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 688-1130	217	15	14.4	35.9%	119 (54.8%)	44 (20.3%)	15 (6.9%)	23 (10.6%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.9%)	14 (6.5%)	$13,259			$202			$13,057	76.7	75.9	105	5		191470000894

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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:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education