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
141	Interstate 35 Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-6	445 East North Street	Truro	50257	Madison County	Interstate 35 Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(641) 765-4901	458	34	13.5	22.9%	432 (94.3%)	3 (0.7%)	15 (3.3%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.1%)	$12,787			$398			$12,388	72.6	63.2	221	80		191467000880
142	Davis Elementary School	Public	3-4	818 Hamilton Avenue	Grinnell	50112	Poweshiek County	Grinnell-Newburg Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(641) 236-2700	213	14	15.3	36.6%	185 (86.9%)	5 (2.3%)	10 (4.7%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (5.2%)	$12,399			$477			$11,922	72.6	70.6	156	14		191320000790
143	Westridge Elementary	Public	PK, KG-6	5500 E P True Parkway	West Des Moines	50266	Polk County	West Des Moines Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(515) 633-5400	744	46	16.1	39.5%	467 (62.8%)	73 (9.8%)	97 (13.0%)	35 (4.7%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	70 (9.4%)	$13,179			$193			$12,987	72.5	77	89	54		193093002055
144	Lakewood Elementary School	Public	4-5	9210 Happy Hollow Dr	Norwalk	50211	Warren County	Norwalk Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(515) 981-1850	554	38	14.6	17.3%	481 (86.8%)	12 (2.2%)	35 (6.3%)	9 (1.6%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (2.7%)	$13,305			$405			$12,900	72.4	76.9	93	51		192124001273
145	Downtown School	Public	K-5	1800 Grand Avenue	Des Moines	50309	Polk County	Des Moines Independent Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(515) 284-5848	197	15	13.4	21.3%	133 (67.5%)	16 (8.1%)	26 (13.2%)	3 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (9.6%)	$14,247			$621			$13,626	72.3	71.2	149	4		190897000232
146	Mediapolis Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	725 N. Northfield	Mediapolis	52637	Des Moines County	Mediapolis Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(319) 394-3101	432	29	14.7	36.8%	391 (90.5%)	3 (0.7%)	17 (3.9%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (4.2%)	$10,838			$206			$10,632	72.2	68.7	176	30		191893001117
147	Logan-Magnolia Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-6	1200 N 2nd Ave	Logan	51546	Harrison County	Logan-Magnolia Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(712) 644-2168	431	25	17.1	32.3%	411 (95.4%)	1 (0.2%)	12 (2.8%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.7%)	$10,785			$259			$10,527	72.2	85.3	33	114		191746001013
148	Winterset Middle School	Public	4-6	706 West School Street	Winterset	50273	Madison County	Winterset Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(515) 462-3010	351	26	13.5	30.5%	326 (92.9%)	1 (0.3%)	10 (2.8%)	5 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (2.6%)	$12,388			$382			$12,006	72.1	65.3	198	50		193186001857
149	Kingsley Elementary School	Public	K-4	322 Quest Avenue	Kingsley	51028	Plymouth County	Kingsley-Pierson Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(712) 378-2861	173	12	14	30.6%	160 (92.5%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (5.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.7%)	$14,583			$901			$13,681	71.9	60.5	249	100		191575000940
150	Riceville Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	912 Woodland Ave	Riceville	50466	Howard County	Riceville Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(641) 985-2288	226	17	13.5	45.6%	198 (87.6%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (7.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (5.3%)	$13,540			$1,012			$12,527	71.9	52.8	315	165		192415001409

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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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