Enrollment
233
Elementary
DISTRICT 493 · STATE 325
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·URBANDALE COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 192868001658
Karen Acres Elementary School
3500 74th St, Urbandale, IA 50322 · (515) 457-5700 · Polk County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL233 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
12.0:1
19 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.8:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
53%
123 students
DISTRICT 41% · STATE 41%
Community
0
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 36 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 35 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 45 | 19% |
| Grade 3 | 41 | 18% |
| Grade 4 | 36 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 40 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (36) is 10% smaller than its 5th grade class (40).
Student demographics
65%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 58% · 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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Based on grade levels within Urbandale Comm School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
QUIET COMMUNITY
Be the first to start a discussion at Karen Acres Elementary School.
START A DISCUSSIONTest scores
ISASP 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
80.9%
IA avg 73.6% . +8.9pp since 2023
Math
77.4%
IA avg 70.9% . +5.3pp since 2023
What this means: On the ISASP, Iowa's statewide test, about 81 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 77 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 9 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 5 points.
ISASP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 80.9% | 77.4% |
| 2023-24 | 72.0% | 72.1% |
% 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
74.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
65.5%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+8.8pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 74% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 66% 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 Karen Acres Elementary School
Karen Acres Elementary School's state test result (74.4% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Karen Acres Elementary School this school | 233 | 52.8% | 74.4% |
| Olmsted Elementary School Urbandale | 622 | 51.0% | 67.8% |
| Mitchell Early Childhood Center Des Moines | 292 | 67.1% | N/A |
| Valerius Elementary School Urbandale | 598 | 43.3% | 77.5% |
| Nixon Elementary School Hiawatha | 289 | 67.5% | 61.0% |
| Moore Elementary School Des Moines | 285 | 67.0% | 48.5% |
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 Karen Acres Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa | In Polk County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 74.4% | #254 of 564 | #27 of 78 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 77.4% | #271 of 564 ▲ 82 | #30 of 78 ▲ 7 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 80.9% | #135 of 564 ▲ 121 | #14 of 78 ▲ 17 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 233 | #507 of 705 | #85 of 89 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.0:1 | #113 of 561 | #15 of 86 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 65.3% | #94 of 561 | #33 of 86 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 52.8% | #188 of 666 | #43 of 89 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -22.8% | #73 of 359 | #14 of 64 |
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
233
-58 (-20%) vs 2020
-47% since 1990-91, when it was 436
Student : Teacher
12.0:1
was 12.7:1
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 | 233 | 19.5 | 12.0:1 | 53% (123) |
| 2023-24 | 244 | 20 | 12.2:1 | 48% (118) |
| 2022-23 | 272 | 20.1 | 13.5:1 | 51% (138) |
| 2020-21 | 291 | 23 | 12.7:1 | 20% (57) |
| 2017-18 | 302 | 23.5 | 12.9:1 | 38% (115) |
| 2015-16 | 300 | 21 | 14.3:1 | 33% (99) |
| 2010-11 | 228 | 16 | 14.3:1 | 28% (64) |
| 2000-01 | 253 | 13 | 19.5:1 | 8% (21) |
| 1990-91 | 436 | 22 | 19.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Karen Acres Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 23% (302 to 233); teachers down 17% (23.5 to 19.5).
About Karen Acres Elementary School
Karen Acres Elementary School runs as a low-enrollment elementary school in Urbandale, Iowa. Classes run from kindergarten through 5, and the school has 233 students. The average for elementary schools in Iowa is about 325 students, so this school is 28% smaller than average.
A total of 6 schools make up Urbandale Comm School District, with 4,165 students enrolled.
At 52%, White students outnumber all other groups at Karen Acres Elementary School combined. After that, the student body is 21% Hispanic, 16% Asian, 5% multiracial, and 5% Black. Among all residents of Polk County, the White share is about 76%. By the diversity index, Karen Acres Elementary School comes in at 65%.
The school's student-to-teacher ratio is about 12.0:1, with 19.5 full-time-equivalent teachers. The average ratio among elementary schools in Iowa is 13.7:1, higher than at this school. Students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch make up 53% of enrollment.
Karen Acres Elementary School's average proficiency rate on state tests of 74.4% is 8.8 points above the 65.5% the model predicts from its lunch-eligibility share.
Polk County has about 503,175 residents, and median household income is about $83,576, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 40%, and roughly 7% of residents are in poverty. The public schools of Polk County number 137 and enroll about 77,436.
The nearest public school is Olmsted Elementary School, at about 0.6 miles. There are at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Of the 9 nearby schools with scores, including this one, Karen Acres Elementary School is 3rd on average proficiency.
The federal government classifies Karen Acres Elementary School's location as Suburb: Large.
A comparison of 2020-21 and 2024-25 shows enrollment down 20%, from 291 to 233.
The discussion area below is open to posts about school events, clubs, and volunteer needs. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Polk County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
503,175
Census ACS
Median income
$83,576
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
40%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
137
77,436 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Urbandale Comm School District
- Urbandale High SchoolHigh · 1,301 students
- Urbandale Middle SchoolMiddle · 892 students
- Olmsted Elementary SchoolElementary · 622 students
- Valerius Elementary SchoolElementary · 598 students
- Webster Elementary SchoolElementary · 519 students
- Karen Acres Elementary SchoolCombined
Other schools in Urbandale
- Urbandale High SchoolHigh · 1,301 students
- Urbandale Middle SchoolMiddle · 892 students
- Walnut Hills Elementary SchoolElementary · 708 students
- Olmsted Elementary SchoolElementary · 622 students
- Valerius Elementary SchoolElementary · 598 students
- Webster Elementary SchoolElementary · 519 students
Nearby schools
- Olmsted Elementary School0.6 mi · 622
- Urbandale Middle School0.8 mi · 892
- Urbandale High School0.9 mi · 1,301
- Valerius Elementary School1.1 mi · 598
- Crestview School of Inquiry1.2 mi · 558
- Clive Learning Academy1.3 mi · 551
Frequently asked questions
About Karen Acres Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Karen Acres Elementary School?
Karen Acres Elementary School enrolls approximately 233 students in grades KG-05.
What age range does Karen Acres Elementary School serve?
Karen Acres Elementary School serves students from grade KG through grade 05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Karen Acres Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Karen Acres Elementary School is approximately 12.0:1 (19 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Karen Acres Elementary School?
Student demographics at Karen Acres Elementary School are roughly 52% White, 21% Hispanic, 5% Black, 16% Asian, 5% Two or more.
What district is Karen Acres Elementary School in?
Karen Acres Elementary School is part of Urbandale Comm School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.