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Does Ballard East Elementary have enough mental health and stress support?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
417
Elementary
DISTRICT 434 · STATE 325
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BALLARD COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 190420000109
Ballard East Elementary
505 W 4th St, Cambridge, IA 50046 · (515) 220-4306 · Story County
GRADES 03–05ELEMENTARY42-RURALREGULAR SCHOOL417 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 48% of Iowa public elementary schools
- B+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- CBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Iowa public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
12.6:1
33 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.8:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
24%
98 students
DISTRICT 19% · STATE 41%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 139 | 33% |
| Grade 4 | 135 | 32% |
| Grade 5 | 143 | 34% |
Student demographics
17%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 15% · STATE 48% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Ballard Comm School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
ISASP 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
73.4%
IA avg 73.6% . -0.3pp since 2023
Math
84.5%
IA avg 70.9% . -0.1pp since 2023
What this means: On the ISASP, Iowa's statewide test, about 73 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 85 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Iowa schools, those numbers are about 74 and 71. Reading and writing scores have held steady since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
ISASP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 73.4% | 84.5% |
| 2023-24 | 73.7% | 84.6% |
% Proficient, all students and all tested grades.
Source: ISASP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
76.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
80.2%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-3.3pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 77% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 80% typical for Iowa schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Iowa's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Ballard East Elementary
Ballard East Elementary's state test result (76.9% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ballard East Elementary this school | 417 | 23.5% | 76.9% |
| Interstate 35 Elementary School Truro | 458 | 22.9% | 79.3% |
| Madison Elementary School Pella | 401 | 21.2% | 79.1% |
| North Ridge Elementary Waverly | 397 | 20.4% | N/A |
| Bronson Elementary School Bronson | 390 | 21.3% | 82.5% |
| Woodward-Granger Elementary School Granger | 349 | 24.6% | 84.4% |
Matched among Iowa elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Ballard East Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa | In Story County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 76.9% | #198 of 564 | #6 of 11 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 84.5% | #136 of 564 ▼ 24 | #6 of 11 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 73.4% | #270 of 564 ▼ 42 | #7 of 11 ▲ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 417 | #198 of 705 | #6 of 13 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.6:1 | #171 of 561 | #4 of 11 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 16.6% | #468 of 561 | #10 of 11 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 23.5% | #566 of 666 | #9 of 13 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +3.0% | #139 of 168 | #7 of 7 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
417
+42 (+11%) vs 2020
+26% since 1990-91, when it was 332
Student : Teacher
12.6:1
was 13.9:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 417 | 33.1 | 12.6:1 | 24% (98) |
| 2023-24 | 431 | 34.1 | 12.6:1 | 18% (79) |
| 2022-23 | 422 | 31.3 | 13.5:1 | 16% (67) |
| 2020-21 | 375 | 27 | 13.9:1 | 15% (57) |
| 2017-18 | 405 | 25.8 | 15.7:1 | 14% (56) |
| 2015-16 | 359 | 23 | 15.6:1 | 19% (70) |
| 2010-11 | 381 | 22 | 17.3:1 | 23% (86) |
| 2000-01 | 293 | 15 | 19.5:1 | 23% (68) |
| 1990-91 | 332 | 17 | 19.5:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Ballard East Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students up 3% (405 to 417); teachers up 29% (25.8 to 33.1).
About Ballard East Elementary
Ballard East Elementary is a public mid-sized elementary school in Cambridge, Iowa. The school teaches grades 3 through 5 and enrolls 417 students. It has 28% more students than the average for elementary schools in Iowa (about 325).
Ballard Comm School District is the local district for Ballard East Elementary. It runs 4 schools with 1,872 students.
The share of White students at Ballard East Elementary is 91%. Enrollment also includes 5% Hispanic and 2% multiracial. The school's White share is 9 points above the 82% share among Story County residents. The diversity index for Ballard East Elementary is 17%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
With 33.1 full-time-equivalent teachers, the student-to-teacher ratio is about 12.6:1. Statewide, elementary schools in Iowa average 13.7:1. Roughly 24% of students come from households that qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.
On the allk12 Grade, Ballard East Elementary lands at B-, ahead of 48% of Iowa public elementary schools.
A school with Ballard East Elementary's lunch-eligibility share in Iowa is predicted to score 80.2%. Ballard East Elementary scores 76.9%, 3.3 points below that line.
The school is in Story County, where median household income comes to about $69,685, 55% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 6% of people live in poverty. Story County's 26 public schools enroll about 11,665 students and include Ballard East Elementary.
Ballard Middle School is about 3.2 miles from Ballard East Elementary, the shortest distance to any other public school. The five-mile area around Ballard East Elementary holds 2 other public schools. The nearest schools with test data average 79.8%, higher than Ballard East Elementary's 76.9%.
Ballard East Elementary has an NCES locale of Rural: Distant.
Enrollment was 417 in 2024-25. In 2020-21, it was 375. The ratio of students to teachers went from 13.9:1 to 12.6:1 over the same years.
This page is set up for the Ballard East Elementary community to discuss homework, tutoring, and testing dates. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Story County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
100,466
Census ACS
Median income
$69,685
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
55%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
26
11,665 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Ballard Comm School District
- Ballard High SchoolHigh · 586 students
- Ballard West ElementaryElementary · 451 students
- Ballard Middle SchoolMiddle · 418 students
Nearby schools
- Ballard Middle School3.2 mi · 418
- Ballard High School3.7 mi · 586
- North Polk Middle School6.7 mi · 504
- North Polk Central Elementary School6.8 mi · 408
- Mitchell Elementary School6.8 mi · 314
- North Polk High School6.8 mi · 644
Frequently asked questions
About Ballard East ElementaryHow many students attend Ballard East Elementary?
Ballard East Elementary enrolls approximately 417 students in grades 03-05.
What grades does Ballard East Elementary serve?
Ballard East Elementary serves grades 03-05.
How many students per teacher at Ballard East Elementary?
Approximately 12.6:1 students per teacher at Ballard East Elementary.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Ballard East Elementary?
At Ballard East Elementary, the student body is approximately 91% White, 5% Hispanic, 1% Black, 0% Asian, 2% Two or more.
Is Ballard East Elementary public or private?
Ballard East Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Ballard Comm School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.