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What advice would you give to incoming students at Orange Elementary School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
518
Elementary
DISTRICT 454 · STATE 325
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WATERLOO COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 193048001734
Orange Elementary School
5805 Kimball Ave, Waterloo, IA 50701 · (319) 433-2880 · Black Hawk County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY41-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL518 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
13.7:1
38 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.2:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
50%
257 students
DISTRICT 73% · STATE 41%
Community
5
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 | 42 | 8% |
| Kindergarten | 87 | 17% |
| Grade 1 | 68 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 76 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 74 | 14% |
| Grade 4 | 77 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 94 | 18% |
This year's kindergarten class (87) is 7% smaller than its 5th grade class (94).
Student demographics
48%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 74% · 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
Test scores
ISASP 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
77.0%
IA avg 73.6% . +6.3pp since 2023
Math
83.3%
IA avg 70.9% . +2.1pp since 2023
What this means: On the ISASP, Iowa's statewide test, about 77 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 83 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 6 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 2 points.
ISASP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 77.0% | 83.3% |
| 2023-24 | 70.7% | 81.2% |
% 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
76.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
67.1%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+8.9pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 76% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 67% 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 Orange Elementary School
Orange Elementary School's state test result (76.1% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange Elementary School this school | 518 | 49.6% | 76.1% |
| Willowbrook Elementary Altoona | 523 | 53.0% | 63.5% |
| Eagle Heights Elementary School Clinton | 443 | 47.2% | 73.1% |
| Altoona Elementary Altoona | 429 | 53.4% | 76.9% |
| Lincoln Elementary School Cedar Falls | 416 | 45.2% | 78.9% |
| Lambert Elementary School Manchester | 449 | 47.4% | 74.7% |
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 Orange Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa | In Black Hawk County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 76.1% | #219 of 564 | #8 of 21 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 83.3% | #157 of 564 ▲ 28 | #7 of 21 ▼ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 77.0% | #211 of 564 ▲ 61 | #10 of 21 ▲ 2 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 518 | #94 of 705 | #6 of 21 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.7:1 | #310 of 561 | #17 of 21 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 48.0% | #230 of 561 | #11 of 21 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 49.6% | #227 of 666 | #12 of 21 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -3.4% | #322 of 359 | #13 of 13 |
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
518
-39 (-7%) vs 2020
+9% since 1990-91, when it was 477
Student : Teacher
13.7:1
was 15.1:1
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 | 518 | 37.9 | 13.7:1 | 50% (257) |
| 2023-24 | 507 | 37 | 13.7:1 | 57% (287) |
| 2022-23 | 521 | 37.8 | 13.8:1 | 53% (278) |
| 2020-21 | 557 | 37 | 15.1:1 | 52% (292) |
| 2017-18 | 536 | 33.1 | 16.2:1 | 46% (244) |
| 2015-16 | 547 | 36 | 15.2:1 | 51% (277) |
| 2010-11 | 412 | 25 | 16.5:1 | 47% (195) |
| 2000-01 | 478 | 31 | 15.4:1 | 37% (177) |
| 1990-91 | 477 | 22 | 21.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Orange Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 3% (536 to 518); teachers up 14% (33.1 to 37.9).
About Orange Elementary School
Orange Elementary School is listed by the National Center for Education Statistics as an elementary school in Waterloo, Iowa. The school serves pre-K through 5. Enrollment is 518 students. That is 59% above the average of about 325 students for elementary schools in Iowa.
Orange Elementary School falls under Waterloo Comm School District, which has 18 schools enrolling 10,484 students.
White students are 70% of those enrolled at Orange Elementary School. Next come 11% Black, 9% multiracial, and 7% Hispanic. That compares with about 80% White among all Black Hawk County residents. A diversity index of 48% means there is a 48% chance two randomly chosen students at Orange Elementary School are from different groups.
The school had 37.9 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25. Its student-to-teacher ratio is 13.7:1. The 13.7:1 average for elementary schools in Iowa is close to this figure. The school reported 50% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch in 2024-25. The average for public schools in Black Hawk County is similar, at 52%.
On the allk12 BeatsExpectations measure, Orange Elementary School is 8.9 points above the average proficiency rate across its state test results predicted for its free or reduced-price lunch share: 76.1% actual, 67.1% predicted. That is outside both the top and bottom 10% in Iowa.
Black Hawk County is the school's county. There, median household income comes to about $66,417, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 30%, and about 9% of people live in poverty. Black Hawk County's 35 public schools enroll about 18,224 students and include Orange Elementary School.
Orange Elementary School's nearest public school is Lou Henry Elementary School (about 2.3 miles). Inside a five-mile radius, there are at least 8 other public schools. Ranked by average proficiency, Orange Elementary School places 1st out of 9 schools in its immediate area.
By NCES locale, the school is Rural: Fringe, or in rural territory close to an urban area.
Enrollment figures show a decline of 39 students from 2020-21 to 2024-25. The number of students per teacher dropped from 15.1 to 13.7 over 4 years.
This community page is for conversations about open houses, carpools, and field trips. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Black Hawk County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
131,049
Census ACS
Median income
$66,417
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
30%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
35
18,224 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Waterloo Comm School District
- West High SchoolHigh · 1,696 students
- East High SchoolHigh · 1,016 students
- Hoover Middle SchoolMiddle · 848 students
- Kittrell Elementary SchoolElementary · 576 students
- Expo Alternative Learning CenterHigh · 561 students
- Lowell Elementary SchoolElementary · 538 students
Other schools in Waterloo
- West High SchoolHigh · 1,696 students
- East High SchoolHigh · 1,016 students
- Hoover Middle SchoolMiddle · 848 students
- Kittrell Elementary SchoolElementary · 576 students
- Expo Alternative Learning CenterHigh · 561 students
- Lowell Elementary SchoolElementary · 538 students
Other Orange Elementary schools
2 other US public schools in 3 states are named Orange Elementary. Orange Elementary School is the 3rd largest of the 3.
- Orange ElementaryCorona, CA · 746 students
- Orange ElementaryOrange, VA · 621 students
Nearby schools
- Lou Henry Elementary School2.3 mi · 460
- Hoover Middle School2.3 mi · 848
- West High School2.8 mi · 1,696
- Kittrell Elementary School3.0 mi · 576
- Kingsley Elementary School3.3 mi · 337
- Irving Elementary School3.9 mi · 353
Frequently asked questions
About Orange Elementary SchoolHow many students attend Orange Elementary School?
Orange Elementary School enrolls approximately 518 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does Orange Elementary School serve?
Orange Elementary School serves grades PK-05.
How many students per teacher at Orange Elementary School?
Approximately 13.7:1 students per teacher at Orange Elementary School.
How diverse is Orange Elementary School?
Orange Elementary School reports a student body of 70% White, 7% Hispanic, 11% Black, 1% Asian, 9% Two or more.
Who oversees Orange Elementary School?
Orange Elementary School is overseen by Waterloo Comm School District in Black Hawk County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.