Rural Elementary School #4

Rural Elementary School #4 is an one-room-style elementary campus in Fairbank, Iowa, run under Wapsie Valley Comm School District. The school enrolls 17 students in grades K through 8. By comparison, Iowa's public schools average about 325 students each, so Rural Elementary School #4 sits 95% below that benchmark.

Wapsie Valley Comm School District runs 6 schools in total, collectively educating 637 students. Rural Elementary School #4 is one of those campuses.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Rural Elementary School #4 logs that 100% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority. That composition is broadly in line with Buchanan County as a whole.

On the income-and-resources front, Staff filings list 2 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 8.5:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 13.7:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Roughly 18% of students at Rural Elementary School #4 qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. By comparison, Buchanan County runs at roughly 29%, so the school's eligibility rate is somewhat below the surrounding baseline.

Across the wider county, the surrounding county (Buchanan County) shows that median household income runs about $78,236, roughly 22% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 6% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Rural Elementary School #4 is one of 18 public schools in Buchanan County (combined enrollment of about 3,231 students).

The closest other public school is Rural Elementary School #1, roughly 1.8 miles away. Within five miles, there are 5 other public schools.

Rural Elementary School #4 operates from a countryside location.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count contracted 35%: 26 students in 2018 compared to 17 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio pulled in from 27.4:1 in 2018 to 8.5:1 today.

On this page, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.