Enrollment
169
Elementary
DISTRICT 193 · STATE 325
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·COLO-NESCO COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 190792002204
Colo-Nesco Elementary School
407 N Center, Zearing, IA 50278 · (641) 487-7411 · Story County
GRADES PK–04ELEMENTARY42-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL169 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 52% 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.
- B+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
11.6:1
15 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 11.2:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
51%
86 students
DISTRICT 47% · STATE 41%
Community
0
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 | 41 | 24% |
| Kindergarten | 29 | 17% |
| Grade 1 | 26 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 25 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 25 | 15% |
| Grade 4 | 23 | 14% |
This year's kindergarten class (29) is 26% larger than its 4th grade class (23).
Student demographics
26%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 22% · 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
Colo-Nesco Elementary School→Colo-NESCO Middle/High School
Based on grade levels within Colo-NESCO Comm School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
QUIET COMMUNITY
Be the first to start a discussion at Colo-Nesco Elementary School.
START A DISCUSSIONTest scores
ISASP 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
61.2%
IA avg 73.6% . -2.0pp since 2023
Math
73.5%
IA avg 70.9% . -10.2pp since 2023
What this means: On the ISASP, Iowa's statewide test, about 61 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 74 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Iowa schools, those numbers are about 74 and 71. Reading and writing scores are down about 2 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 10 points.
ISASP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 61.2% | 73.5% |
| 2023-24 | 63.2% | 83.7% |
% 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
70.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
66.5%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+4.0pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 70% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 66% 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 Colo-Nesco Elementary School
Colo-Nesco Elementary School's state test result (70.5% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colo-Nesco Elementary School this school | 169 | 50.9% | 70.5% |
| Little Husky Learning Center Oelwein | 173 | 49.1% | N/A |
| Dayton Center Dayton | 200 | 51.0% | 74.8% |
| Walcott Elementary School Walcott | 150 | 52.0% | 70.9% |
| Adair-Casey Elementary School Adair | 160 | 48.1% | 77.0% |
| Schuler Elementary School Atlantic | 206 | 49.0% | 68.9% |
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 Colo-Nesco Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa | In Story County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 70.5% | #321 of 564 | #11 of 11 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 73.5% | #326 of 564 ▼ 192 | #9 of 11 ▼ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 61.2% | #444 of 564 ▼ 42 | #11 of 11 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 169 | #597 of 705 | #13 of 13 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 50.9% | #207 of 666 | #2 of 13 |
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
169
+3 (+2%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
11.6:1
was 13.8:1
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 | 169 | 14.6 | 11.6:1 | 51% (86) |
| 2023-24 | 164 | 13.5 | 12.1:1 | 43% (70) |
| 2022-23 | 155 | 14.6 | 10.6:1 | 43% (66) |
| 2020-21 | 166 | 12 | 13.8:1 | 47% (78) |
| 2017-18 | 168 | 11 | 15.3:1 | 39% (66) |
| 2015-16 | 154 | 13 | 11.8:1 | 30% (46) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Colo-Nesco Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students up 1% (168 to 169); teachers up 33% (11 to 14.6).
About Colo-Nesco Elementary School
Colo-Nesco Elementary School is a public small elementary school in Zearing, Iowa. Its enrollment is 169 students, spread over pre-K through 4. Elementary schools in Iowa average about 325 students, which makes this school 48% below average.
The 2 schools in Colo-NESCO Comm School District enroll 385 students altogether, Colo-Nesco Elementary School among them.
The share of students at Colo-Nesco Elementary School who are White is 85%. Other groups include 8% multiracial and 7% Hispanic. Story County residents are about 82% White, a similar share. A diversity index of 26% means there is a 26% chance two randomly chosen students at Colo-Nesco Elementary School are from different groups.
Teacher count: 14.6 full-time equivalents. Student-to-teacher ratio: 11.6:1. The average for elementary schools in Iowa, 13.7:1, is higher. Roughly 51% of students come from households that qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. By comparison, the figure for public schools in Story County is 28%.
Colo-Nesco Elementary School earns a B- on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 52% of Iowa public elementary schools.
On the allk12 BeatsExpectations measure, Colo-Nesco Elementary School is 4.0 points above the average proficiency rate across its state test results predicted for its free or reduced-price lunch share: 70.5% actual, 66.5% predicted. That is outside both the top and bottom 10% in Iowa.
The school is in Story County, where the median household earns about $69,685 a year, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 55% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 6%. Across Story County, 26 public schools serve about 11,665 students.
South Hardin Middle School is about 9.6 miles away, making it the nearest public school. The average proficiency across nearby scored schools is 77.4%; Colo-Nesco Elementary School's is 70.5%, ranking 7th of 9.
The school's federal locale classification is Rural: Distant.
Enrollment has been fairly stable: 166 in 2020-21 and 169 in 2024-25. There were fewer students per teacher in 2024-25 (11.6:1) than in 2020-21 (13.8:1).
People can post here about homework, tutoring, and testing dates and other school topics. Members of the school community can share what they know.
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 Colo-NESCO Comm School District
- Colo-NESCO Middle/High SchoolHigh · 216 students
Nearby schools
- South Hardin Middle School9.6 mi · 196
- Roland-Story Middle School10.4 mi · 331
- Colo-NESCO Middle/High School10.8 mi · 216
- West Marshall Middle School12.0 mi · 213
- West Marshall High School12.0 mi · 292
- Nevada Middle School12.3 mi · 442
Frequently asked questions
About Colo-Nesco Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Colo-Nesco Elementary School?
Colo-Nesco Elementary School enrolls approximately 169 students in grades PK-04.
What grades does Colo-Nesco Elementary School serve?
Colo-Nesco Elementary School serves grades PK-04.
How many students per teacher at Colo-Nesco Elementary School?
Approximately 11.6:1 students per teacher at Colo-Nesco Elementary School.
How diverse is Colo-Nesco Elementary School?
Colo-Nesco Elementary School reports a student body of 85% White, 7% Hispanic, 8% Two or more.
What district is Colo-Nesco Elementary School in?
Colo-Nesco Elementary School is part of Colo-NESCO Comm School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.