Karen Acres Elementary School

Karen Acres Elementary School is an elementary-level community of tight-knit scale in Urbandale, Iowa, run under Urbandale Comm School District, serveing 233 students in grades K through 5. Enrollment runs roughly 28% below the state mean of about 325.

Karen Acres Elementary School is one of 6 schools operated by Urbandale Comm School District, a district that hosts 4,165 students overall.

On demographics, Karen Acres Elementary School reports that the most-represented group is White (52%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. Other groups include 21% Hispanic, 16% Asian, 5% multiracial, 5% Black. That is visibly less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 76%.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Staff filings list 19 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 12.0:1 students per teacher. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 13.7:1 average. Around 53% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, often used as a Title I proxy.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Karen Acres Elementary School tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 65.5% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 74.4%.

In the surrounding community, community-level numbers for Polk County indicate median household earnings sit near $83,576, about 40% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 7%. In all, Polk County runs 137 public schools (combined enrollment of about 77,436 students), of which Karen Acres Elementary School is one.

Olmsted Elementary School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.6 miles from this campus. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Karen Acres Elementary School ranks 3rd on composite proficiency, above the local average of 67.2%.

Geographically, the school is in a suburban area.

Looking at the recent track record. Karen Acres Elementary School's enrollment has shrank 23% since 2018, when it stood at 302 (now 233). Over the same period, the White share declined from 66% to 52%.

On this page, recent activity here tends to focus on enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. The community welcomes input from current and former families.