Hartford Upper Elementary

Hartford Upper Elementary is one of the average-sized elementary campuss in Hartford, Iowa, run under Carlisle Comm School District, with 303 students on its rolls from grades 4 through 5.

Carlisle Comm School District runs 4 schools in total, collectively educating 2,290 students. Hartford Upper Elementary is one of those campuses.

On demographics, Hartford Upper Elementary shows that 82% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority. Other groups include 8% Hispanic, 5% Asian, 3% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 93% White, putting the school's mix meaningfully less White than the area baseline.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Staff filings list 21 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 14.6:1 students per teacher. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 13.7:1, putting Hartford Upper Elementary higher than the state norm the norm. Around 27% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Hartford Upper Elementary performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 78.4%, the actual is 77.0%, a residual of -1.4 points.

Zooming out to the county, census data for Warren County shows the typical household earns roughly $94,588 per year, roughly 33% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 3% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Hartford Upper Elementary is one of 20 public schools in Warren County (combined enrollment of about 10,473 students).

Nearest neighbor: Runnells Elementary, around 4.7 miles off. Within ten miles, there are 8 other public schools, a sparser pattern than typical urban areas. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Hartford Upper Elementary ranks 6th on composite proficiency, ahead of the local average of 75.9%.

The campus sits in a small-town setting.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count edged down 17%: 366 students in 2018 compared to 303 in 2025. Class-load math has fell: from 20.6:1 in 2018 to 14.6:1 in 2025.

On this page, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.