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Which teacher or staff member at John Kennedy Elementary School deserves more recognition?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
493
Elementary
DISTRICT 349 · STATE 325
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DUBUQUE COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 190948000613
John Kennedy Elementary School
2135 Woodland, Dubuque, IA 52002 · (563) 552-3900 · Dubuque County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY13-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL493 STUDENTS
B
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 59% of Iowa public elementary schools
- B+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
13.6:1
36 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.3:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
30%
147 students
DISTRICT 49% · 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 | 21 | 4% |
| Kindergarten | 76 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 60 | 12% |
| Grade 2 | 81 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 73 | 15% |
| Grade 4 | 93 | 19% |
| Grade 5 | 89 | 18% |
This year's kindergarten class (76) is 15% smaller than its 5th grade class (89).
Student demographics
36%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 45% · 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
74.1%
IA avg 73.6% . -2.4pp since 2023
Math
80.6%
IA avg 70.9% . -1.1pp since 2023
What this means: On the ISASP, Iowa's statewide test, about 74 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 81 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 1 points.
ISASP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 74.1% | 80.6% |
| 2023-24 | 76.5% | 81.7% |
% 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
77.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
77.0%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+0.5pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 78% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 77% 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 John Kennedy Elementary School
John Kennedy Elementary School's state test result (77.5% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Kennedy Elementary School this school | 493 | 29.8% | 77.5% |
| Carver Elementary School Dubuque | 499 | 31.7% | 81.9% |
| Cedar Heights Elementary School Cedar Falls | 451 | 33.7% | 73.3% |
| Okoboji Elementary School Milford | 491 | 31.8% | 82.2% |
| College View Elementary Council Bluffs | 488 | 30.7% | 76.3% |
| Spirit Lake Elementary School Spirit Lake | 547 | 27.6% | 85.3% |
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 John Kennedy Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa | In Dubuque County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 77.5% | #181 of 564 | #6 of 16 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 80.6% | #212 of 564 ▼ 41 | #7 of 16 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 74.1% | #260 of 564 ▼ 88 | #6 of 16 ▼ 2 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 493 | #107 of 705 | #3 of 16 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.6:1 | #302 of 561 | #12 of 16 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 36.0% | #300 of 561 | #7 of 16 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 29.8% | #511 of 666 | #13 of 16 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -17.4% | #121 of 359 | #2 of 7 |
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
493
-93 (-16%) vs 2020
-10% since 1990-91, when it was 548
Student : Teacher
13.6:1
was 15.0:1
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 | 493 | 36.3 | 13.6:1 | 30% (147) |
| 2023-24 | 535 | 38 | 14.1:1 | 27% (147) |
| 2022-23 | 541 | 40.8 | 13.3:1 | 27% (146) |
| 2020-21 | 586 | 39 | 15.0:1 | 27% (161) |
| 2017-18 | 597 | 40.6 | 14.7:1 | 21% (128) |
| 2015-16 | 603 | 38 | 15.9:1 | 22% (134) |
| 2010-11 | 511 | 33 | 15.5:1 | 21% (106) |
| 2000-01 | 494 | 29 | 17.0:1 | 9% (43) |
| 1990-91 | 548 | 30 | 18.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for John Kennedy Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 17% (597 to 493); teachers down 11% (40.6 to 36.3).
About John Kennedy Elementary School
John Kennedy Elementary School is a public elementary school in Dubuque, Iowa. Its enrollment is 493 students, spread over pre-K through 5. Across elementary schools in Iowa, the average enrollment is about 325.
Dubuque Comm School District operates 19 schools. Combined enrollment is 9,843 students.
The largest group at John Kennedy Elementary School is White students, at 79%. Other groups include 8% multiracial, 6% Hispanic, 3% Pacific Islander, and 2% Asian. By comparison, Dubuque County residents are about 89% White. Measured by the diversity index, the student body scores 36%.
John Kennedy Elementary School lists 36.3 full-time-equivalent teachers; that is about 13.6 students per teacher. The average ratio among elementary schools in Iowa is similar, at 13.7:1. About 30% of students at John Kennedy Elementary School are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Compared with the 39% average for public schools in Dubuque County, the school's rate is lower.
John Kennedy Elementary School holds a B allk12 Grade, placing it above 59% of Iowa public elementary schools.
On the allk12 BeatsExpectations measure, John Kennedy Elementary School is within a point of the average proficiency rate across its state test results predicted for its free or reduced-price lunch share: 77.5% actual, 77.0% predicted. That is outside both the top and bottom 10% in Iowa.
In the surrounding county, Dubuque County, the median household earns about $77,630 a year, 33% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 6% of people live in poverty. Dubuque County has 26 public schools with about 13,164 students, including John Kennedy Elementary School.
Of the public schools around it, John Kennedy Elementary School is closest to Hoover Elementary School, about 0.4 miles away. There are at least 8 other public schools within five miles. John Kennedy Elementary School's average proficiency of 77.5% compares with 71.2% for its nearest scored neighbors.
The NCES locale for John Kennedy Elementary School is City: Small, which covers schools inside a principal city with a population under 100,000.
In 2020-21, John Kennedy Elementary School enrolled 586 students. By 2024-25, that number had fallen to 493. The student-to-teacher ratio went down from 15.0:1 to 13.6:1.
John Kennedy Elementary School has a community page on allk12 for topics such as athletics, class schedules, and weather closures. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Dubuque County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
99,030
Census ACS
Median income
$77,630
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
33%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
26
13,164 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Dubuque Comm School District
- Hempstead High SchoolHigh · 1,499 students
- Dubuque Senior High SchoolHigh · 1,490 students
- Eleanor Roosevelt Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,081 students
- George Washington Middle SchoolMiddle · 584 students
- Eisenhower Elementary SchoolElementary · 568 students
- Carver Elementary SchoolElementary · 499 students
Other schools in Dubuque
- Hempstead High SchoolHigh · 1,499 students
- Dubuque Senior High SchoolHigh · 1,490 students
- Eleanor Roosevelt Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,081 students
- George Washington Middle SchoolMiddle · 584 students
- Eisenhower Elementary SchoolElementary · 568 students
- Carver Elementary SchoolElementary · 499 students
Nearby schools
- Hoover Elementary School0.4 mi · 292
- Hempstead High School0.7 mi · 1,499
- Eisenhower Elementary School0.9 mi · 568
- Dubuque Online School1.0 mi · 249
- Irving Elementary School1.2 mi · 409
- Dubuque Senior High School1.5 mi · 1,490
Frequently asked questions
About John Kennedy Elementary SchoolHow large is John Kennedy Elementary School?
John Kennedy Elementary School enrolls approximately 493 students in grades PK-05.
Is John Kennedy Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
John Kennedy Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many teachers does John Kennedy Elementary School have?
John Kennedy Elementary School employs 36 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 13.6:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at John Kennedy Elementary School?
At John Kennedy Elementary School, the student body is approximately 79% White, 6% Hispanic, 2% Black, 2% Asian, 8% Two or more.
Who oversees John Kennedy Elementary School?
John Kennedy Elementary School is overseen by Dubuque Comm School District in Dubuque County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.