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If you had an hour of school board time for Highland Elementary School, what would you bring up?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
448
Elementary
DISTRICT 454 · STATE 325
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WATERLOO COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 193048001970
Highland Elementary School
812 Idaho St, Waterloo, IA 50703 · (319) 433-2630 · Black Hawk County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL448 STUDENTS
C-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 23% of Iowa public elementary schools
- DTest 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
11.9:1
38 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.2:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
90%
401 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 | 7% |
| Kindergarten | 73 | 16% |
| Grade 1 | 74 | 17% |
| Grade 2 | 66 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 78 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 65 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 60 | 13% |
This year's kindergarten class (73) is 22% larger than its 5th grade class (60).
Student demographics
75%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
47.0%
IA avg 73.6% . +2.1pp since 2023
Math
59.1%
IA avg 70.9% . -0.3pp since 2023
What this means: On the ISASP, Iowa's statewide test, about 47 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 59 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 have held steady.
ISASP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 47.0% | 59.1% |
| 2023-24 | 44.9% | 59.4% |
% 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
48.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
47.2%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+1.4pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 49% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 47% 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 Highland Elementary School
Highland Elementary School's state test result (48.5% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highland Elementary School this school | 448 | 89.5% | 48.5% |
| Park Ave Elementary School Des Moines | 380 | 82.6% | 40.9% |
| Brubaker Elementary School Des Moines | 622 | 83.3% | 38.9% |
| Irving Elementary School Waterloo | 353 | 89.2% | 61.1% |
| Morris Elementary School Des Moines | 519 | 87.7% | 47.3% |
| Studebaker Elementary School Des Moines | 561 | 86.3% | 42.2% |
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 Highland Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa | In Black Hawk County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 48.5% | #508 of 564 | #20 of 21 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 59.1% | #480 of 564 ▼ 9 | #19 of 21 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 47.0% | #524 of 564 ▲ 3 | #20 of 21 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 448 | #151 of 705 | #13 of 21 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 11.9:1 | #109 of 561 | #4 of 21 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 75.1% | #13 of 561 | #4 of 21 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 89.5% | #11 of 666 | #2 of 21 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -23.9% | #66 of 359 | #4 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
448
-86 (-16%) vs 2020
-15% since 1990-91, when it was 525
Student : Teacher
11.9:1
was 12.1:1
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 | 448 | 37.5 | 11.9:1 | 90% (401) |
| 2023-24 | 462 | 37.4 | 12.4:1 | 87% (403) |
| 2022-23 | 477 | 36.6 | 13.0:1 | 85% (405) |
| 2020-21 | 534 | 44 | 12.1:1 | 89% (476) |
| 2017-18 | 589 | 46.1 | 12.8:1 | 65% (383) |
| 2015-16 | 575 | 40 | 14.4:1 | 89% (510) |
| 2010-11 | 506 | 41 | 12.3:1 | 87% (439) |
| 2000-01 | 523 | 23 | 22.7:1 | 81% (426) |
| 1990-91 | 525 | 24 | 21.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Highland Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 24% (589 to 448); teachers down 19% (46.1 to 37.5).
About Highland Elementary School
Highland Elementary School is a mid-sized elementary school located in Waterloo, Iowa. It reports enrollment of 448 students in pre-K through 5. The school is 38% larger than the average for elementary schools in Iowa.
Across its 18 schools, Waterloo Comm School District enrolls 10,484 students. Highland Elementary School is one of those schools.
No group is above 50% at Highland Elementary School; the largest is Hispanic, at 29%. Beyond that, enrollment is 28% White, 26% Black, 13% multiracial, and 3% Pacific Islander. The Hispanic share of the county population is lower, at 5%. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Highland Elementary School scores 75%.
Highland Elementary School reports a ratio of 11.9 students per teacher, from 37.5 full-time-equivalent teachers. By comparison, the average for elementary schools in Iowa is 13.7:1. In all, 90% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The 52% average for public schools in Black Hawk County is 38 points lower.
On the allk12 Grade, Highland Elementary School lands at C-, ahead of 23% of Iowa public elementary schools.
Highland Elementary School sits between the top and bottom 10% of Iowa schools on BeatsExpectations, with an actual average proficiency rate across its state test results of 48.5% and a predicted 47.2%.
For Black Hawk County, Census Bureau data show median household income comes to about $66,417, about 30% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 9%. The county has 35 public schools and about 18,224 students.
Expo Alternative Learning Center sits about 0.1 miles from Highland Elementary School. There are at least 8 other public schools within five miles. By average proficiency, Highland Elementary School is 6th among 8 schools close by.
By NCES locale, the school is City: Small, or inside a principal city with a population under 100,000.
Enrollment figures show a decrease of 86 students from 2020-21 to 2024-25.
Anyone can start a thread about fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies at Highland Elementary School. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
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
Other Highland Elementary schools
55 other US public schools in 26 states are named Highland Elementary. Highland Elementary School is the 25th largest of the 56.
- Highland Elementary SchoolRiverside, IA · 242 students
- HIGHLAND ELEMENTARY SCHOOLLAKE WORTH, FL · 976 students
- Highland ElementarySanford, NC · 854 students
- Highland Elementary SchoolMarengo, OH · 836 students
- Highland Elementary SchoolEvansville, IN · 814 students
Nearby schools
- Expo Alternative Learning Center0.1 mi · 561
- Cunningham School1.2 mi · 443
- East High School1.2 mi · 1,016
- Lowell Elementary School1.5 mi · 538
- Kittrell Elementary School2.2 mi · 576
- Irving Elementary School2.2 mi · 353
Frequently asked questions
About Highland Elementary SchoolHow large is Highland Elementary School?
Highland Elementary School enrolls approximately 448 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does Highland Elementary School serve?
Highland Elementary School serves grades PK-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Highland Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Highland Elementary School is approximately 11.9:1 (38 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Highland Elementary School?
At Highland Elementary School, the student body is approximately 28% White, 29% Hispanic, 26% Black, 1% Asian, 13% Two or more.
Is Highland Elementary School public or private?
Highland Elementary School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Waterloo Comm School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.