Aurora Heights Elementary School

Located at 310 E 23rd St S, in Newton, Iowa, Aurora Heights Elementary School is a small K-5 school that instructs 260 students (grades K through 4), run under Newton Comm School District.

Newton Comm School District runs 7 schools in total, collectively educating 2,929 students. Aurora Heights Elementary School is one of those campuses.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Aurora Heights Elementary School reports that the student body is overwhelmingly White (87%). Beyond that, the school shows 6% Hispanic, 5% multiracial, 2% Black.

On the income-and-resources front, Staff filings list 24 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 12.6:1 students per teacher. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 13.7:1 average. About 58% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. That share is higher than Jasper County's rate of about 40%.

After controlling for student poverty, Aurora Heights Elementary School ranks in the top 10% of Iowa public schools. The BeatsExpectations model, a per-state regression of composite proficiency on FRL share, predicts schools with this student profile to land around 63.1%; Aurora Heights Elementary School posts 76.6%, +13.5 points above that line.

Around the school, ACS estimates for Jasper County put the typical household earns roughly $71,311 per year, 20% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 5%. Aurora Heights Elementary School is one of 18 public schools in Jasper County (combined enrollment of about 5,668 students).

Nearest neighbor: Berg Middle School, around 0.6 miles off. Within five miles, there are 6 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Aurora Heights Elementary School comes 1st of 8 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 69.8%.

Geographically, the school is in a small-town area.

Over the past 6-year window. Looking back 6 years, enrollment at Aurora Heights Elementary School has declined 14%, going from 301 students in 2018 to 260 in 2024. The student-to-teacher ratio fell from 15.6:1 in 2018 to 10.7:1 today.

Inside the community feed, recent activity here tends to focus on enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. The community welcomes input from current and former families.