Madison Elementary School

Located at 950 E. University St., in Pella, Iowa, Madison Elementary School is a middle-of-the-pack elementary school that enrolls 401 students (grades pre-K through 3), overseen by Pella Comm School District. Compared to the state average of about 325 students per school, that is 23% bigger than typical.

Pella Comm School District comprises 6 schools with combined enrollment of 2,462 students; Madison Elementary School is among them.

On the student-mix side, Madison Elementary School records that the student body is overwhelmingly White (87%). Beyond that, the school reports 5% Hispanic, 5% multiracial, 2% Black.

On the resource side, On paper, Madison Elementary School has 34 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 11.9:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 13.7:1, putting Madison Elementary School tighter than the state norm the norm. Roughly 21% of students at Madison Elementary School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. That share is lower than Marion County's rate of about 29%.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Madison Elementary School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 81.3%, the actual is 79.1%, a residual of -2.2 points.

In the broader community, Marion County reports that median household income runs about $78,680, 32% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 6%. Across Marion County's 17 public schools (combined enrollment of about 5,571 students), Madison Elementary School is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: Viersen Early Learning Center, around 0.1 miles off. Within five miles, there are 5 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Madison Elementary School comes 6th of 8 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 80.5%.

The school occupies a town-center site.

Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Madison Elementary School has shrank 13%, going from 459 students in 2018 to 401 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 93% to 87% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 15.3:1 in 2018 to 11.9:1 today.

On this page, recent activity here tends to focus on school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. The community welcomes input from current and former families.