Carson Elementary

Carson Elementary is one of the tight-knit K-5 schools in Carson, Iowa, overseen by Riverside Comm School District, with 134 students on its rolls from grades 3 through 5. Enrollment runs roughly 59% smaller than the state mean of about 325.

Riverside Comm School District runs 3 schools in total, collectively educating 677 students. Carson Elementary is one of those campuses.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Carson Elementary logs that 76% of the student body identifies as White. The remainder looks like 14% Hispanic, 7% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 88% White, putting the school's mix considerably less White than the area baseline.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Staff filings list 10 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 13.3:1 students per teacher. The state averages about 13.7:1, putting this campus right in line with peers. An estimated 49% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. That share is above Pottawattamie County's rate of about 40%.

With demographic context factored in, Carson Elementary sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 67.7%; this one delivers 65.2%.

Around the school, census data for Pottawattamie County shows median household income runs about $73,602, roughly 24% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 8% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Pottawattamie County's 35 public schools (combined enrollment of about 15,270 students), Carson Elementary is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is Riverside Middle/Senior High School, roughly 3.6 miles away. Within five miles, there are 2 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Carson Elementary comes 8th of 8 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 81.6%.

Geographically, the school is in a low-density area.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count declined 10%: 149 students in 2018 compared to 134 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 88% to 76% across the same window. Class-load math has pulled in: from 21.3:1 in 2018 to 13.3:1 in 2025.

On allk12, members of the Carson Elementary community share and discuss science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.