Laurens-Marathon Elementary School

As a low-enrollment primary school in Laurens, Iowa, Laurens-Marathon Elementary School educates 147 students from grades pre-K through 6, run under Laurens-Marathon Comm School District. Enrollment runs roughly 55% below the state mean of about 325.

Laurens-Marathon Comm School District is the operating authority for Laurens-Marathon Elementary School, handling staffing, calendars, and reporting to the state department of education.

On the student-mix side, Laurens-Marathon Elementary School reports that 66% of the student body identifies as White. Other groups include 21% Hispanic, 7% Pacific Islander, 3% multiracial, 2% Black. By comparison, Pocahontas County as a whole is about 90% White, so the school skews noticeably less White than its surroundings.

On the resource side, Staff filings list 14 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 10.5:1 students per teacher. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 13.7:1 average. An estimated 41% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. That share is noticeably below Pocahontas County's rate of about 50%.

After controlling for student poverty, Laurens-Marathon Elementary School is in the bottom 10% of Iowa public schools. The BeatsExpectations model predicts schools with this FRL share to land around 71.5%; Laurens-Marathon Elementary School posts 42.5%, -29.0 points below that line.

In the surrounding community, the surrounding county (Pocahontas County) reports that the typical household earns roughly $61,875 per year, 19% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 6%. Across Pocahontas County's 4 public schools (combined enrollment of about 806 students), Laurens-Marathon Elementary School is one campus in the mix.

Albert City-Truesdale Elementary School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 7.0 miles from this campus. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Laurens-Marathon Elementary School at 8th of 8; the average score across the group is 71.7%.

Laurens-Marathon Elementary School operates from a rural location.

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Laurens-Marathon Elementary School has expanded 20%, going from 122 students in 2018 to 147 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 82% to 66% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio fell from 11.8:1 in 2018 to 10.5:1 today.

On allk12, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.