Johnson Elementary

Johnson Elementary is an elementary school of low-enrollment scale in Spencer, Iowa, run under Spencer Comm School District, teacheing 201 students in grades pre-K through K. That puts it 38% below the typical public school in Iowa, which averages around 325 students.

Spencer Comm School District comprises 5 schools with combined enrollment of 2,094 students; Johnson Elementary is among them.

On the student-mix side, Johnson Elementary reports that nearly all students (81%) are White. Beyond that, the school reports 10% Hispanic, 6% multiracial. By comparison, Clay County as a whole is about 93% White, so the school skews visibly less White than its surroundings.

On the income-and-resources front, The school reports having 18 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 11.0:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 13.7:1, putting Johnson Elementary tighter than the state norm the norm. About 53% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment.

In the area at large, ACS estimates for Clay County put the typical household earns roughly $65,428 per year, 28% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 7%. In all, Clay County runs 6 public schools (combined enrollment of about 2,147 students), of which Johnson Elementary is one.

Lincoln Elementary School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 1.0 miles from this campus. 4 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius.

Johnson Elementary operates from a town-center location.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Johnson Elementary has ticked down 49%, going from 396 students in 2018 to 201 in 2025. The White share of enrollment ticked down from 94% to 81% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 13.9:1 in 2018 to 11.0:1 today.

On the community side, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.