Clay Central-Everly Elementary

Clay Central-Everly Elementary is an one-room-style elementary campus in Royal, Iowa, part of Clay Central-Everly Comm School District. The school instructs 53 students in grades pre-K through 6. That puts it 84% smaller than the typical public school in Iowa, which averages around 325 students.

Clay Central-Everly Elementary sits inside Clay Central-Everly Comm School District, the local public-school operator responsible for the campus.

Looking at the student body, Clay Central-Everly Elementary shows that 89% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority. The remainder consists of 8% Hispanic, 4% multiracial.

In terms of school funding signals, On paper, Clay Central-Everly Elementary has 8 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 6.7:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 13.7:1 average. Around 64% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. Set against Clay County (around 51%), the school's rate is somewhat above typical.

Zooming out to the county, ACS estimates for Clay County put the typical household earns roughly $65,428 per year, roughly 28% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Clay Central-Everly Elementary is one of 6 public schools in Clay County (combined enrollment of about 2,147 students).

Nearest neighbor: Lincoln Elementary School, around 8.3 miles off. 4 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a ten-mile radius, suggesting a relatively low-density school footprint.

Geographically, the school is in an outlying area.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count edged down 58%: 126 students in 2018 compared to 53 in 2025. Over the same period, the Black share edged down from 5% to 0%. The student-to-teacher ratio fell from 10.9:1 in 2018 to 6.7:1 today.

On this page, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.