Enrollment
157
Elementary
DISTRICT 154 · STATE 325
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MELCHER-DALLAS COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 191896001121
Melcher-Dallas Elementary
1003 E Park St, Dallas, IA 50062 · (641) 947-3151 · Marion County
GRADES PK–06ELEMENTARY42-RURALREGULAR SCHOOL157 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
13.1:1
12 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 11.8:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
39%
61 students
DISTRICT 35% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 19 | 12% |
| Kindergarten | 17 | 11% |
| Grade 1 | 18 | 11% |
| Grade 2 | 17 | 11% |
| Grade 3 | 22 | 14% |
| Grade 4 | 25 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 21 | 13% |
| Grade 6 | 18 | 11% |
This year's kindergarten class (17) is 6% smaller than its 6th grade class (18).
Student demographics
5%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 6% · 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
Melcher-Dallas Elementary→Melcher-Dallas High School
Based on grade levels within Melcher-Dallas Comm School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
ISASP 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
63.1%
IA avg 73.6% . +0.6pp since 2023
Math
60.7%
IA avg 70.9% . -10.5pp since 2023
What this means: On the ISASP, Iowa's statewide test, about 63 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 61 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Iowa schools, those numbers are about 74 and 71. Reading and writing scores have held steady since 2023, while math scores are down about 11 points.
ISASP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 63.1% | 60.7% |
| 2023-24 | 62.5% | 71.2% |
% Proficient, all students and all tested grades.
Source: ISASP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of IA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
61.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
72.5%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-10.8pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 62% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 73% typical for Iowa schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 Melcher-Dallas Elementary
Melcher-Dallas Elementary's state test result (61.7% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melcher-Dallas Elementary this school | 157 | 38.9% | 61.7% |
| North Cedar Lowden Elementary Center Lowden | 168 | 38.1% | 77.1% |
| Delwood Elementary School Delmar | 142 | 40.1% | 85.0% |
| Southeast Warren Primary Milo | 162 | 35.8% | 82.1% |
| Keota Elementary School Keota | 165 | 37.6% | 70.2% |
| Harris-Lake Park Elementary School Lake Park | 167 | 40.7% | 67.8% |
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 Melcher-Dallas Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa | In Marion County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 61.7% | #446 of 564 | #6 of 6 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 60.7% | #474 of 564 ▼ 102 | #6 of 6 ▼ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 63.1% | #425 of 564 ▼ 17 | #5 of 6 ▼ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 157 | #613 of 705 | #7 of 8 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 38.9% | #381 of 666 | #3 of 8 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -32.6% | #22 of 359 | N/A |
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
157
-30 (-16%) vs 2020
-43% since 1990-91, when it was 277
Student : Teacher
13.1:1
was 14.4:1
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 | 157 | 12 | 13.1:1 | 39% (61) |
| 2023-24 | 156 | 10.4 | 15.0:1 | 30% (47) |
| 2022-23 | 177 | 11.5 | 15.4:1 | 31% (55) |
| 2020-21 | 187 | 13 | 14.4:1 | 37% (70) |
| 2017-18 | 233 | 14.4 | 16.2:1 | 36% (85) |
| 2015-16 | 222 | 16 | 13.9:1 | 44% (98) |
| 2010-11 | 205 | 13 | 15.8:1 | 39% (79) |
| 2000-01 | 235 | 21 | 11.2:1 | 36% (84) |
| 1990-91 | 277 | 16 | 17.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Melcher-Dallas Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 33% (233 to 157); teachers down 17% (14.4 to 12).
About Melcher-Dallas Elementary
Melcher-Dallas Elementary is a small elementary school based in Dallas, Iowa. It serves 157 students in pre-K through 6. The average among elementary schools in Iowa is roughly 325 students; this school is 52% smaller than that.
Melcher-Dallas Comm School District operates 2 schools. Combined enrollment is 308 students.
The student body at Melcher-Dallas Elementary is 97% White. The county population is about 94% White, within a few points of the school. Pick two students at random and there is a 5% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.
The school reported 12 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25 and a ratio of 13.1:1. That is close to the 13.7:1 average for elementary schools in Iowa. Eligible students account for 39% of enrollment in the free or reduced-price lunch program. By comparison, the figure for public schools in Marion County is 29%.
Melcher-Dallas Elementary is in the bottom 10% of Iowa schools on the allk12 BeatsExpectations measure. Based on its free or reduced-price lunch share, the model predicts an average proficiency rate on state tests of 72.5%. The school's actual rate is 61.7%, 10.8 points lower.
Federal survey data for Marion County show that the median household income is $78,680, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 32% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 6%. Marion County is home to 17 public schools and about 5,571 public school students.
Melcher-Dallas High School is the public school closest to Melcher-Dallas Elementary, about 0.9 miles away. The count of other public schools within ten miles is 6. Compared with its nearest neighbors, Melcher-Dallas Elementary ranks 7th of 8 on average proficiency.
The school is in rural territory some distance from an urban area, according to its NCES locale (Rural: Distant).
Enrollment is down 16% from 2020-21, when Melcher-Dallas Elementary had 187 students, to 2024-25, when it had 157. The ratio was 14.4:1 in 2020-21 and 13.1:1 in 2024-25.
The Melcher-Dallas Elementary community page is open for posts about sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Marion County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
33,642
Census ACS
Median income
$78,680
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
32%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
17
5,571 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Melcher-Dallas Comm School District
- Melcher-Dallas High SchoolHigh · 151 students
Nearby schools
- Melcher-Dallas High School0.9 mi · 151
- Southeast Warren Intermediate8.1 mi · 95
- Knoxville High School8.3 mi · 508
- Knoxville Middle School8.3 mi · 323
- West Elementary8.5 mi · 485
- Northstar Elementary School9.6 mi · 348
Frequently asked questions
About Melcher-Dallas ElementaryWhat is the total enrollment at Melcher-Dallas Elementary?
Melcher-Dallas Elementary enrolls approximately 157 students in grades PK-06.
What age range does Melcher-Dallas Elementary serve?
Melcher-Dallas Elementary serves students from grade PK through grade 06.
How many teachers does Melcher-Dallas Elementary have?
Melcher-Dallas Elementary employs 12 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 13.1:1.
What is the student diversity at Melcher-Dallas Elementary?
Student demographics at Melcher-Dallas Elementary are roughly 97% White, 1% Black, 2% Two or more.
What district is Melcher-Dallas Elementary in?
Melcher-Dallas Elementary is part of Melcher-Dallas Comm School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.