Enrollment
371
Elementary
DISTRICT 369 · STATE 325
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·AMES COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 190354000049
Sawyer Elementary School
4316 Ontario St, Ames, IA 50010 · (515) 239-3790 · Story County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY13-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL371 STUDENTS
C
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 34% of Iowa public elementary schools
- B-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- CBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Iowa public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
11.1:1
34 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.8:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
36%
134 students
DISTRICT 39% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 61 | 16% |
| Grade 1 | 60 | 16% |
| Grade 2 | 71 | 19% |
| Grade 3 | 62 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 49 | 13% |
| Grade 5 | 68 | 18% |
This year's kindergarten class (61) is 10% smaller than its 5th grade class (68).
Student demographics
54%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 58% · 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
Based on grade levels within Ames Comm School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
ISASP 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
72.5%
IA avg 73.6% . +6.4pp since 2023
Math
73.4%
IA avg 70.9% . +1.9pp since 2023
What this means: On the ISASP, Iowa's statewide test, about 73 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 73 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 | 72.5% | 73.4% |
| 2023-24 | 66.1% | 71.5% |
% 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
71.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
73.9%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-2.8pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 71% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 74% 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 Sawyer Elementary School
Sawyer Elementary School's state test result (71.1% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sawyer Elementary School this school | 371 | 36.1% | 71.1% |
| James Van Allen Elementary School North Liberty | 376 | 30.3% | 70.1% |
| Four Mile Elementary Pleasant Hill | 495 | 37.8% | 77.3% |
| Bowman Woods Elementary School Cedar Rapids | 413 | 27.8% | 79.5% |
| Sergeant Bluff-Luton Elementary School Sergeant Bluff | 383 | 36.0% | 77.1% |
| Jordan Creek Elementary School West Des Moines | 652 | 33.4% | 82.2% |
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 Sawyer Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa | In Story County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 71.1% | #311 of 564 | #10 of 11 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 73.4% | #328 of 564 ▲ 34 | #10 of 11 ▲ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 72.5% | #285 of 564 ▲ 65 | #8 of 11 ▲ 2 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 371 | #256 of 705 | #8 of 13 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 11.1:1 | #46 of 561 | #1 of 11 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 54.3% | #184 of 561 | #4 of 11 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 36.1% | #415 of 666 | #7 of 13 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +15.6% | #56 of 168 | #1 of 7 |
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
371
+20 (+6%) vs 2020
-15% since 1990-91, when it was 439
Student : Teacher
11.1:1
was 11.7:1
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 | 371 | 33.5 | 11.1:1 | 36% (134) |
| 2023-24 | 375 | 30.6 | 12.3:1 | 35% (132) |
| 2022-23 | 367 | 29.4 | 12.5:1 | 31% (113) |
| 2020-21 | 351 | 30 | 11.7:1 | 35% (122) |
| 2017-18 | 321 | 24.3 | 13.2:1 | 32% (102) |
| 2015-16 | 288 | 24 | 12.0:1 | 30% (87) |
| 2010-11 | 438 | 30 | 14.6:1 | 28% (123) |
| 2000-01 | 360 | 17 | 21.2:1 | 19% (69) |
| 1990-91 | 439 | 20 | 21.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Sawyer Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students up 16% (321 to 371); teachers up 38% (24.3 to 33.5).
About Sawyer Elementary School
Federal records list Sawyer Elementary School as an elementary school in Ames, Iowa. The school enrolls 371 students, from kindergarten through 5.
Ames Comm School District has a total of 8 schools and 4,688 students, Sawyer Elementary School among them.
At 65%, White students outnumber all other groups at Sawyer Elementary School combined. Beyond that, enrollment is 12% Hispanic, 9% Black, 7% multiracial, and 7% Asian. The White share of the county population is higher, at 82%. By the diversity index, Sawyer Elementary School comes in at 54%.
Teacher staffing is 33.5 full-time equivalents, or about 11.1 students per teacher. Among elementary schools in Iowa, the typical ratio is 13.7:1. About 36% of students, or 134, qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Compared with the 28% average for public schools in Story County, the school's rate is higher.
Sawyer Elementary School is graded C by allk12, scoring above 34% of Iowa public elementary schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
Given its share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, Sawyer Elementary School would be expected to post about 73.9%. Its actual average proficiency rate on state tests is 71.1%.
Federal survey data for Story County show that median household income is about $69,685, about 55% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 6%. A total of 26 public schools operate in Story County, serving about 11,665 students.
Edwards Elementary School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 1.3 miles away. A five-mile radius around the school includes 7 other public schools. Sawyer Elementary School's average proficiency of 71.1% compares with 73.6% for its nearest scored neighbors.
On the NCES locale scale, the school is City: Small.
The number of students grew from 351 to 371 over 4 years.
Discussion on this page can cover sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Story County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
100,466
Census ACS
Median income
$69,685
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
55%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
26
11,665 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Ames Comm School District
- Ames High SchoolHigh · 1,440 students
- Ames Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,033 students
- Fellows Elementary SchoolElementary · 489 students
- Edwards Elementary SchoolElementary · 436 students
- Meeker Elementary SchoolElementary · 361 students
- Mitchell Elementary SchoolElementary · 314 students
Other schools in Ames
- Ames High SchoolHigh · 1,440 students
- Ames Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,033 students
- Fellows Elementary SchoolElementary · 489 students
- Edwards Elementary SchoolElementary · 436 students
- Meeker Elementary SchoolElementary · 361 students
- Mitchell Elementary SchoolElementary · 314 students
Other Sawyer Elementary schools
3 other US public schools in 4 states are named Sawyer Elementary. Sawyer Elementary School is the 2nd largest of the 4.
- Sawyer Elementary SchoolChicago, IL · 885 students
- Sawyer ElementarySturgeon Bay, WI · 223 students
- SAWYER ELEMENTARY SCHOOLSawyer, ND · 74 students
Nearby schools
- Edwards Elementary School1.3 mi · 436
- Ames Middle School1.5 mi · 1,033
- Ames High School2.3 mi · 1,440
- Fellows Elementary School2.6 mi · 489
- Northwood Pre-School3.2 mi · 244
- Meeker Elementary School3.3 mi · 361
Frequently asked questions
About Sawyer Elementary SchoolHow many students attend Sawyer Elementary School?
Sawyer Elementary School enrolls approximately 371 students in grades KG-05.
What grades does Sawyer Elementary School serve?
Sawyer Elementary School serves grades KG-05.
How many teachers does Sawyer Elementary School have?
Sawyer Elementary School employs 34 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 11.1:1.
What is the student diversity at Sawyer Elementary School?
Student demographics at Sawyer Elementary School are roughly 65% White, 12% Hispanic, 9% Black, 7% Asian, 7% Two or more.
What district is Sawyer Elementary School in?
Sawyer Elementary School is part of Ames Comm School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.