1
What's the vibe like in the hallways at Fred Becker Elementary School right now?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
501
Elementary
DISTRICT 454 · STATE 325
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WATERLOO COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 193048001715
Fred Becker Elementary School
1239 Sheldon St, Waterloo, IA 50701 · (319) 433-2180 · Black Hawk County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL501 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
13.1:1
38 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.2:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
78%
391 students
DISTRICT 73% · 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 | 32 | 6% |
| Kindergarten | 91 | 18% |
| Grade 1 | 86 | 17% |
| Grade 2 | 74 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 76 | 15% |
| Grade 4 | 75 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 67 | 13% |
This year's kindergarten class (91) is 36% larger than its 5th grade class (67).
Student demographics
74%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 74% · 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
50.8%
IA avg 73.6% . +2.4pp since 2023
Math
62.4%
IA avg 70.9% . +4.3pp since 2023
What this means: On the ISASP, Iowa's statewide test, about 51 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 62 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 2 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 4 points.
ISASP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 50.8% | 62.4% |
| 2023-24 | 48.4% | 58.1% |
% 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
53.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
52.9%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+0.6pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 54% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 53% 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 Fred Becker Elementary School
Fred Becker Elementary School's state test result (53.5% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fred Becker Elementary School this school | 501 | 78.0% | 53.5% |
| Lowell Elementary School Waterloo | 538 | 77.9% | 51.0% |
| Cedar River Academy at Taylor Cedar Rapids | 355 | 76.1% | 37.0% |
| Cleveland Elementary School Cedar Rapids | 254 | 76.4% | 37.5% |
| Grant Elementary School Cedar Rapids | 312 | 68.3% | 44.7% |
| Lincoln Elementary School Dubuque | 257 | 72.0% | 47.8% |
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 Fred Becker Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa | In Black Hawk County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 53.5% | #486 of 564 | #17 of 21 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 62.4% | #459 of 564 ▲ 19 | #17 of 21 ▲ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 50.8% | #510 of 564 ▼ 3 | #19 of 21 ▼ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 501 | #100 of 705 | #7 of 21 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.1:1 | #240 of 561 | #11 of 21 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 73.8% | #20 of 561 | #5 of 21 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 78.0% | #48 of 666 | #5 of 21 |
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
501
+35 (+8%) vs 2020
-4% since 1990-91, when it was 524
Student : Teacher
13.1:1
was 12.9:1
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 | 501 | 38.2 | 13.1:1 | 78% (391) |
| 2023-24 | 457 | 34.9 | 13.1:1 | 79% (359) |
| 2022-23 | 473 | 35.1 | 13.5:1 | 76% (358) |
| 2020-21 | 466 | 36 | 12.9:1 | 74% (344) |
| 2017-18 | 501 | 37.9 | 13.2:1 | 66% (331) |
| 2015-16 | 532 | 38 | 14.0:1 | 74% (395) |
| 2010-11 | 506 | 37 | 13.7:1 | 77% (391) |
| 2000-01 | 379 | 21 | 18.1:1 | 60% (229) |
| 1990-91 | 524 | 26 | 20.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Fred Becker Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students unchanged (501 to 501); teachers up 1% (37.9 to 38.2).
About Fred Becker Elementary School
As a large elementary school, Fred Becker Elementary School serves students in Waterloo, Iowa. Students in pre-K through 5 make up the school's enrollment of 501 students. By comparison, elementary schools in Iowa enroll about 325 students on average.
In Waterloo Comm School District, 18 schools enroll a combined 10,484 students.
White students make up 37% of enrollment at Fred Becker Elementary School, the largest share of any group. The rest of enrollment is 29% Black, 15% multiracial, 12% Hispanic, and 5% Pacific Islander. Census estimates put the White share of Black Hawk County's population at about 80%. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 74, compared with 70 nationally.
Its staff includes 38.2 full-time-equivalent teachers, for about 13.1 students per teacher. The average for elementary schools in Iowa is about 13.7:1. Fred Becker Elementary School has a free or reduced-price lunch rate of 78%. Across public schools in Black Hawk County, the average is 52%.
The allk12 BeatsExpectations score for Fred Becker Elementary School is +0.6 points: 53.5% actual, 52.9% predicted.
In the surrounding county, Black Hawk County, the median household earns about $66,417 a year, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 30%, and about 9% of people live in poverty. Counting Fred Becker Elementary School, Black Hawk County has 35 public schools.
Fred Becker Elementary School's nearest public school is Central Middle School (about 0.6 miles). In all, at least 8 other public schools sit within five miles of Fred Becker Elementary School. Of the 9 nearby schools with scores, including this one, Fred Becker Elementary School is 7th on average proficiency.
Fred Becker Elementary School is coded as City: Small in federal locale data.
The school grew from 466 students in 2020-21 to 501 in 2024-25.
On allk12, people connected to Fred Becker Elementary School can post about pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Black Hawk County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
131,049
Census ACS
Median income
$66,417
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
30%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
35
18,224 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Waterloo Comm School District
- West High SchoolHigh · 1,696 students
- East High SchoolHigh · 1,016 students
- Hoover Middle SchoolMiddle · 848 students
- Kittrell Elementary SchoolElementary · 576 students
- Expo Alternative Learning CenterHigh · 561 students
- Lowell Elementary SchoolElementary · 538 students
Other schools in Waterloo
- West High SchoolHigh · 1,696 students
- East High SchoolHigh · 1,016 students
- Hoover Middle SchoolMiddle · 848 students
- Kittrell Elementary SchoolElementary · 576 students
- Expo Alternative Learning CenterHigh · 561 students
- Lowell Elementary SchoolElementary · 538 students
Nearby schools
- Central Middle School0.6 mi · 469
- Kingsley Elementary School1.8 mi · 337
- Orchard Hill Elementary School1.8 mi · 458
- Lincoln Elementary School2.1 mi · 463
- Cedar Heights Elementary School2.1 mi · 451
- Irving Elementary School2.1 mi · 353
Frequently asked questions
About Fred Becker Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Fred Becker Elementary School?
Fred Becker Elementary School enrolls approximately 501 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does Fred Becker Elementary School serve?
Fred Becker Elementary School serves grades PK-05.
How many students per teacher at Fred Becker Elementary School?
Approximately 13.1:1 students per teacher at Fred Becker Elementary School.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Fred Becker Elementary School?
At Fred Becker Elementary School, the student body is approximately 37% White, 12% Hispanic, 29% Black, 2% Asian, 15% Two or more.
Who oversees Fred Becker Elementary School?
Fred Becker Elementary School is overseen by Waterloo Comm School District in Black Hawk County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.