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If you had an hour of school board time for Centennial Elementary, what would you bring up?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
423
Elementary
DISTRICT 441 · STATE 325
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SOUTHEAST POLK COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 192682001567
Centennial Elementary
910 7th Ave SE, Altoona, IA 50009 · (515) 967-2109 · Polk County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL423 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
13.1:1
32 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.7:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
38%
161 students
DISTRICT 40% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 35 | 8% |
| Kindergarten | 66 | 16% |
| Grade 1 | 57 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 62 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 66 | 16% |
| Grade 4 | 66 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 71 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (66) is 7% smaller than its 5th grade class (71).
Student demographics
46%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 49% · 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
Centennial Elementary→Southeast Polk Middle School→Southeast Polk Junior High→Southeast Polk High School
Based on grade levels within Southeast Polk Comm School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
ISASP 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
77.6%
IA avg 73.6% . +0.0pp since 2023
Math
86.7%
IA avg 70.9% . -0.5pp since 2023
What this means: On the ISASP, Iowa's statewide test, about 78 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 87 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 | 77.6% | 86.7% |
| 2023-24 | 77.6% | 87.2% |
% 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
79.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
72.9%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+6.5pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 79% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 73% 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 Centennial Elementary
Centennial Elementary's state test result (79.4% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Centennial Elementary this school | 423 | 38.1% | 79.4% |
| Prairie Ridge Elementary Cedar Rapids | 438 | 34.7% | 81.4% |
| Neil Armstrong Elementary School Eldridge | 369 | 38.8% | 76.4% |
| Fairview Elementary School Carroll | 419 | 40.1% | N/A |
| Hoover Elementary School Council Bluffs | 401 | 39.2% | 75.0% |
| Kluckhohn Elementary School Le Mars | 407 | 32.9% | 73.0% |
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 Centennial Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa | In Polk County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 79.4% | #141 of 564 | #16 of 78 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 86.7% | #85 of 564 ▼ 13 | #7 of 78 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 77.6% | #194 of 564 ▼ 38 | #25 of 78 ▼ 3 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 423 | #191 of 705 | #46 of 89 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.1:1 | #239 of 561 | #33 of 86 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 46.2% | #241 of 561 | #67 of 86 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 38.1% | #391 of 666 | #56 of 89 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -2.3% | #336 of 359 | #62 of 64 |
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
423
+4 (+1%) vs 2020
+11% since 1990-91, when it was 380
Student : Teacher
13.1:1
was 12.7:1
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 | 423 | 32.2 | 13.1:1 | 38% (161) |
| 2023-24 | 409 | 32.2 | 12.7:1 | 37% (153) |
| 2022-23 | 420 | 33 | 12.7:1 | 36% (151) |
| 2020-21 | 419 | 33 | 12.7:1 | 37% (153) |
| 2017-18 | 433 | 32.6 | 13.3:1 | 32% (139) |
| 2015-16 | 480 | 31 | 15.5:1 | 25% (119) |
| 2010-11 | 482 | 29 | 16.6:1 | 24% (118) |
| 2000-01 | 427 | 21 | 20.3:1 | 15% (66) |
| 1990-91 | 380 | 24 | 15.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Centennial Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 2% (433 to 423); teachers down 1% (32.6 to 32.2).
About Centennial Elementary
Families in Altoona, Iowa, are served by Centennial Elementary, a mid-sized elementary school. There are 423 students enrolled, covering pre-K through 5. The school is 30% larger than the average for elementary schools in Iowa.
Centennial Elementary sits within Southeast Polk Comm School District, which has 10 schools and 6,359 students.
The largest group at Centennial Elementary is White students, at 72%. The remaining students are 10% Hispanic, 9% multiracial, and 9% Black. The diversity index for Centennial Elementary is 46%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
With 32.2 full-time-equivalent teachers, the student-to-teacher ratio is about 13.1:1. The 13.7:1 average for elementary schools in Iowa is close to this figure. Roughly 38% of students come from households that qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. It compares with 49% for public schools in Polk County.
BeatsExpectations compares each school's average proficiency rate across its state test results with a prediction based on free or reduced-price lunch eligibility. For Centennial Elementary, the prediction is 72.9% and the result is 79.4%.
In the wider Polk County area, median household income comes to about $83,576, roughly 40% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Polk County's 137 public schools enroll about 77,436 students and include Centennial Elementary.
Altoona Elementary is the nearest public school to Centennial Elementary, about 0.6 miles away. Within five miles of Centennial Elementary, there are at least 8 other public schools. Of 8 schools in the immediate area with test results, Centennial Elementary ranks 1st on average proficiency.
In the federal locale system, Centennial Elementary is coded Suburb: Large, for schools in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Compared with 2020-21, when it had 419 students, enrollment in 2024-25 was about the same at 423.
Centennial Elementary has a community page on allk12 for topics such as pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. You can also rate the school on this page.
Polk County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
503,175
Census ACS
Median income
$83,576
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
40%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
137
77,436 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Southeast Polk Comm School District
- Southeast Polk High SchoolHigh · 1,722 students
- Southeast Polk Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,112 students
- Clay ElementaryElementary · 700 students
- Willowbrook ElementaryElementary · 523 students
- Four Mile ElementaryElementary · 495 students
- Delaware ElementaryElementary · 440 students
Other schools in Altoona
- Southeast Polk Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,112 students
- Clay ElementaryElementary · 700 students
- Willowbrook ElementaryElementary · 523 students
- Altoona ElementaryElementary · 429 students
Other Centennial Elementary schools
33 other US public schools in 17 states are named Centennial Elementary. Centennial Elementary is the 20th largest of the 34.
- Centennial Elementary SchoolHOUSTON, TX · 1,090 students
- Centennial ElementaryOREM, UT · 761 students
- Centennial ElementaryFresno, CA · 741 students
- Centennial ElementaryDickson, TN · 713 students
- CENTENNIAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOLDADE CITY, FL · 684 students
Nearby schools
- Altoona Elementary0.6 mi · 429
- Southeast Polk Middle School0.7 mi · 1,112
- Clay Elementary1.4 mi · 700
- Willowbrook Elementary1.5 mi · 523
- Southeast Polk High School3.1 mi · 1,722
- Delaware Elementary3.3 mi · 440
Frequently asked questions
About Centennial ElementaryHow many students attend Centennial Elementary?
Centennial Elementary enrolls approximately 423 students in grades PK-05.
Is Centennial Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
Centennial Elementary is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Centennial Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Centennial Elementary is approximately 13.1:1 (32 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Centennial Elementary?
At Centennial Elementary, the student body is approximately 72% White, 10% Hispanic, 9% Black, 1% Asian, 9% Two or more.
Is Centennial Elementary public or private?
Centennial Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Southeast Polk Comm School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.