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How has Central Elementary School changed in the last five years, for better or worse?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
343
Elementary
DISTRICT 333 · STATE 325
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·IOWA CITY COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 191470000883
Central Elementary School
501 6th St, Coralville, IA 52241 · (319) 688-1100 · Johnson County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY22-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL343 STUDENTS
C-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 17% of Iowa public elementary schools
- C-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C-Beats 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
11.4:1
30 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.4:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
48%
165 students
DISTRICT 45% · STATE 41%
Community
1
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 | 22 | 6% |
| Kindergarten | 47 | 14% |
| Grade 1 | 54 | 16% |
| Grade 2 | 48 | 14% |
| Grade 3 | 58 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 60 | 17% |
| Grade 5 | 54 | 16% |
This year's kindergarten class (47) is 13% smaller than its 5th grade class (54).
Student demographics
71%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 66% · 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
Test scores
ISASP 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
65.3%
IA avg 73.6% . +3.2pp since 2023
Math
65.2%
IA avg 70.9% . -0.6pp since 2023
What this means: On the ISASP, Iowa's statewide test, about 65 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 65 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Iowa schools, those numbers are about 74 and 71. Reading and writing scores are up about 3 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
ISASP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 65.3% | 65.2% |
| 2023-24 | 62.1% | 65.8% |
% 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
62.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
67.9%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-5.1pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 63% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 68% 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 Central Elementary School
Central Elementary School's state test result (62.8% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central Elementary School this school | 343 | 48.1% | 62.8% |
| Eisenhower Elementary School Davenport | 412 | 48.1% | 67.0% |
| McKinley Elementary School Davenport | 421 | 47.7% | 61.0% |
| Harrison Elementary School Davenport | 459 | 52.1% | 66.6% |
| Children's Village West Davenport | 296 | 52.4% | N/A |
| Truman Elementary School Davenport | 434 | 58.3% | 53.1% |
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 Central Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa | In Johnson County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 62.8% | #438 of 564 | #21 of 28 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 65.2% | #444 of 564 ▼ 9 | #20 of 28 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 65.3% | #405 of 564 ▲ 11 | #21 of 28 ▲ 2 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 343 | #303 of 705 | #12 of 30 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 11.4:1 | #64 of 561 | #8 of 23 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 71.3% | #32 of 561 | #1 of 23 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 48.1% | #244 of 666 | #10 of 30 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -26.2% | #51 of 359 | #8 of 20 |
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
343
-148 (-30%) vs 2020
-29% since 1990-91, when it was 482
Student : Teacher
11.4:1
was 14.4:1
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 | 343 | 30 | 11.4:1 | 48% (165) |
| 2023-24 | 452 | 35.9 | 12.6:1 | 56% (253) |
| 2022-23 | 485 | 39.2 | 12.4:1 | 53% (258) |
| 2020-21 | 491 | 34 | 14.4:1 | 45% (219) |
| 2017-18 | 465 | 30.4 | 15.3:1 | 50% (232) |
| 2015-16 | 439 | 27 | 16.3:1 | 47% (205) |
| 2010-11 | 434 | 30 | 14.5:1 | 32% (140) |
| 2000-01 | 434 | 22 | 19.7:1 | 22% (94) |
| 1990-91 | 482 | 23 | 21.0:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Central Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 26% (465 to 343); teachers down 2% (30.4 to 30).
About Central Elementary School
Central Elementary School is classified as an elementary school. It is located in Coralville, Iowa. It enrolled 343 students in pre-K through 5 for the 2024-25 school year.
Iowa City Comm School District is responsible for 29 schools, Central Elementary School included, with 15,111 students in all.
The most common group at Central Elementary School is White students, at 41%. The school is also 29% Black, 15% Hispanic, 9% multiracial, and 6% Asian. The White share of the county population is higher, at 76%. The school's diversity index is 71%, meaning two students picked at random have a 71% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
Central Elementary School employs 30 full-time-equivalent teachers. That gives a ratio of about 11.4:1. The school has fewer students per teacher than the 13.7:1 average for elementary schools in Iowa. Central Elementary School's free or reduced-price lunch eligibility rate is 48%. That is higher than the 37% average for public schools in Johnson County.
Central Elementary School is graded C- by allk12, scoring above 17% of Iowa public elementary schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
Given its share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, Central Elementary School would be expected to post about 67.9%. Its actual average proficiency rate on state tests is 62.8%.
Johnson County census figures show that the median household income is $74,935, 55% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 7% of people live in poverty. There are 43 public schools in Johnson County, enrolling about 20,019 students in all.
The nearest other public school, Northwest Middle School, is about 0.7 miles away. Inside a five-mile radius, there are at least 8 other public schools. Ranked by average proficiency, Central Elementary School places 8th out of 9 schools in its immediate area.
The school's locale code, Suburb: Mid-size, means it is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
Enrollment has fallen by 148 students since 2020-21, to 343. The school's ratio fell from 14.4:1 to 11.4:1 between 2020-21 and 2024-25.
To ask about science fairs, picture day, and bus routes, start a discussion on this page. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Johnson County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
156,639
Census ACS
Median income
$74,935
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
55%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
43
20,019 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Iowa City Comm School District
- Iowa City High SchoolHigh · 1,666 students
- West Senior High SchoolHigh · 1,514 students
- Liberty High SchoolHigh · 1,286 students
- Southeast Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,269 students
- Northwest Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,113 students
- North Central Middle SchoolMiddle · 925 students
Other schools in Coralville
- Northwest Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,113 students
- East Ridge ElementaryElementary · 442 students
- Norman Borlaug Elementary SchoolElementary · 405 students
- Wickham ElementaryElementary · 315 students
- Kirkwood Elementary SchoolElementary · 270 students
Other Central Elementary schools
151 other US public schools in 35 states are named Central Elementary. Central Elementary School is the 90th largest of the 152.
- Central Elementary SchoolNevada, IA · 632 students
- Central ElementaryElkader, IA · 292 students
- Central Elementary SchoolCarrollton, GA · 991 students
- CENTRAL ELEM.ST CHARLES, MO · 865 students
- Central ElementaryBanning, CA · 782 students
Nearby schools
- Northwest Middle School0.7 mi · 1,113
- Kirkwood Elementary School0.9 mi · 270
- Lincoln Elementary School1.2 mi · 217
- Norman Borlaug Elementary School1.5 mi · 405
- West Senior High School1.6 mi · 1,514
- Ernest Horn Elementary School1.8 mi · 453
Frequently asked questions
About Central Elementary SchoolHow many students attend Central Elementary School?
Central Elementary School enrolls approximately 343 students in grades PK-05.
Is Central Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Central Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Central Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Central Elementary School is approximately 11.4:1 (30 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Central Elementary School?
At Central Elementary School, the student body is approximately 41% White, 15% Hispanic, 29% Black, 6% Asian, 9% Two or more.
Is Central Elementary School public or private?
Central Elementary School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Iowa City Comm School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.