Longfellow Elementary School

As a middle-of-the-pack elementary-level community in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Longfellow Elementary School works with 431 students from grades pre-K through 5, operated by Council Bluffs Comm School District. Compared to the state average of about 325 students per school, that is 33% bigger than typical.

Within Council Bluffs Comm School District, which oversees 15 schools and 8,299 students, Longfellow Elementary School is one campus in the system.

Demographically, Longfellow Elementary School logs that the largest single group is White, at 66% of enrollment. Other groups include 24% Hispanic, 4% multiracial, 2% Black. By comparison, Pottawattamie County as a whole is about 88% White, so the school skews noticeably less White than its surroundings.

Looking at school resources, Staff filings list 31 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 13.9:1 students per teacher. That tracks the state average closely. Around 46% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator.

With demographic context factored in, Longfellow Elementary School falls in the UNDERPERFORMING tier of the BeatsExpectations residual. Given its student profile, a typical campus would land near 69.1%; this one comes in at 53.6%, -15.5 points off the demographic line.

In the area at large, census data for Pottawattamie County shows median household earnings sit near $73,602, 24% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 8%. Across Pottawattamie County's 35 public schools (combined enrollment of about 15,270 students), Longfellow Elementary School is one campus in the mix.

Bloomer Elementary School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 1.1 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Longfellow Elementary School. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Longfellow Elementary School at 6th of 8; the average score across the group is 57.9%.

The campus sits in a suburban setting.

Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Longfellow Elementary School has declined 25%, going from 572 students in 2018 to 431 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 72% to 66% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio tightened from 14.9:1 in 2018 to 13.9:1 today.

Inside the community feed, posts here usually surface around classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.