Riverside Elementary School

Riverside Elementary School operates as a modestly sized K-5 school in Sioux City, Iowa, one of the schools within Sioux City Comm School District. Current enrollment sits at 227 students spanning grades pre-K through 5. That puts it 30% smaller than the typical public school in Iowa, which averages around 325 students.

Sioux City Comm School District runs 21 schools in total, collectively educating 14,189 students. Riverside Elementary School is one of those campuses.

Looking at the student body, Riverside Elementary School lists that 47% of students identify as White, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups. Other groups include 35% Hispanic, 10% multiracial, 3% Black, 3% Native American. By comparison, Woodbury County as a whole is about 71% White, so the school skews meaningfully less White than its surroundings.

On the resource side, Riverside Elementary School lists 29 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 7.9:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 13.7:1 average. About 73% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. By comparison, Woodbury County runs at roughly 60%, so the school's eligibility rate is meaningfully above the surrounding baseline.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Riverside Elementary School ranks in the top 10% of Iowa public schools. The BeatsExpectations model, a per-state regression of composite proficiency on FRL share, predicts schools with this student profile to land around 55.6%; Riverside Elementary School posts 65.1%, +9.5 points above that line.

Zooming out to the county, ACS estimates for Woodbury County put median household earnings sit near $73,658, roughly 24% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 11%. Riverside Elementary School is one of 37 public schools in Woodbury County (combined enrollment of about 18,210 students).

West Middle School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 1.3 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Riverside Elementary School. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Riverside Elementary School at 1st of 7; the average score across the group is 55.6%.

Riverside Elementary School operates from a city-core location.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count shrank 29%: 320 students in 2018 compared to 227 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share contracted from 63% to 47%. Class-load math has tightened: from 11.1:1 in 2018 to 7.9:1 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, posts here usually surface around pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. The community welcomes input from current and former families.