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What's the best and worst thing about the food at Van Buren Elementary School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
429
Elementary
DISTRICT 332 · STATE 325
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CEDAR RAPIDS COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 190654000266
Van Buren Elementary School
2525 29th ST SW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404 · (319) 558-2377 · Linn County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL429 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 7% of Iowa public elementary schools
- FTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
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
12.3:1
35 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.6:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
84%
359 students
DISTRICT 61% · STATE 41%
Community
4
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 | 71 | 17% |
| Grade 1 | 76 | 18% |
| Grade 2 | 78 | 18% |
| Grade 3 | 76 | 18% |
| Grade 4 | 57 | 13% |
| Grade 5 | 71 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (71) is about the same size as its 5th grade class (71).
Student demographics
67%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 64% · 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
41.9%
IA avg 73.6% . -0.4pp since 2023
Math
49.7%
IA avg 70.9% . -2.0pp since 2023
What this means: On the ISASP, Iowa's statewide test, about 42 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 50 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 2 points.
ISASP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 41.9% | 49.7% |
| 2023-24 | 42.3% | 51.7% |
% 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
43.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
50.1%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-6.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 44% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 50% 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 Van Buren Elementary School
Van Buren Elementary School's state test result (43.7% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Van Buren Elementary School this school | 429 | 83.7% | 43.7% |
| Lincoln Elementary School Waterloo | 463 | 81.0% | 51.8% |
| Madison Elementary School Davenport | 318 | 80.5% | 27.8% |
| Alexander Elementary Iowa City | 436 | 75.9% | 52.2% |
| Irving Elementary School Waterloo | 353 | 89.2% | 61.1% |
| Jefferson Elementary School Davenport | 384 | 71.1% | 24.2% |
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 Van Buren Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa | In Linn County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 43.7% | #536 of 564 | #36 of 39 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 49.7% | #520 of 564 ▼ 5 | #36 of 39 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 41.9% | #547 of 564 ▼ 9 | #36 of 39 ▼ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 429 | #184 of 705 | #12 of 45 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.3:1 | #146 of 561 | #8 of 42 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 67.3% | #77 of 561 | #10 of 42 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 83.7% | #33 of 666 | #3 of 44 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -2.9% | #327 of 359 | #29 of 30 |
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
429
+44 (+11%) vs 2020
+17% since 1990-91, when it was 368
Student : Teacher
12.3:1
was 11.3:1
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 | 429 | 35 | 12.3:1 | 84% (359) |
| 2023-24 | 409 | 28.9 | 14.1:1 | 86% (353) |
| 2022-23 | 365 | 30.7 | 11.9:1 | 83% (303) |
| 2020-21 | 385 | 34 | 11.3:1 | 80% (309) |
| 2017-18 | 442 | 28.7 | 15.4:1 | 84% (370) |
| 2015-16 | 379 | 26 | 14.6:1 | 76% (288) |
| 2010-11 | 399 | 30 | 13.3:1 | 68% (271) |
| 2000-01 | 395 | 24 | 16.5:1 | 52% (205) |
| 1990-91 | 368 | 28 | 13.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Van Buren Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 3% (442 to 429); teachers up 22% (28.7 to 35).
About Van Buren Elementary School
Van Buren Elementary School sits in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and is classified as an elementary school. There are 429 students enrolled, covering kindergarten through 5. Across elementary schools in Iowa, the average enrollment is about 325.
Cedar Rapids Comm School District serves 15,494 students across 35 schools.
About 46% of students at Van Buren Elementary School are Black, the largest single group. The rest of enrollment is 25% Hispanic, 22% White, and 4% multiracial. Among all residents of Linn County, the Black share is about 6%. Measured by the diversity index, the student body scores 67%.
There are 35 full-time-equivalent teachers at Van Buren Elementary School, giving a ratio of 12.3:1. Elementary schools in Iowa have an average ratio of 13.7:1. By family income, 84% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The rate at public schools in Linn County averages 40%, lower than here.
Among Iowa public elementary schools, Van Buren Elementary School outscored 7%, which works out to a D on the allk12 Grade.
On the allk12 BeatsExpectations measure, Van Buren Elementary School is 6.4 points below the average proficiency rate across its state test results predicted for its free or reduced-price lunch share: 43.7% actual, 50.1% predicted. That is outside both the top and bottom 10% in Iowa.
In Linn County, where the school is located, the median household earns about $77,649 a year, 35% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 6% of people live in poverty. Counting Van Buren Elementary School, Linn County has 83 public schools.
Van Buren Elementary School's closest public school neighbor is Thomas Jefferson High School, about 1.0 miles away. Within five miles of Van Buren Elementary School, there are at least 8 other public schools. Among its closest neighbors with test data, Van Buren Elementary School is 7th of 9 on proficiency.
The National Center for Education Statistics classifies the school's location as City: Mid-size, meaning it is inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
The school grew from 385 students in 2020-21 to 429 in 2024-25.
The Van Buren Elementary School discussion page is a place for special education services, counseling, and support programs. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Linn County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
230,004
Census ACS
Median income
$77,649
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
35%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
83
36,480 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Cedar Rapids Comm School District
- John F Kennedy High SchoolHigh · 1,648 students
- Thomas Jefferson High SchoolHigh · 1,501 students
- George Washington High SchoolHigh · 1,182 students
- Harding Middle SchoolMiddle · 710 students
- Taft Middle SchoolMiddle · 593 students
- Viola Gibson Elementary SchoolElementary · 565 students
Other schools in Cedar Rapids
- Prairie High SchoolHigh · 1,766 students
- John F Kennedy High SchoolHigh · 1,648 students
- Thomas Jefferson High SchoolHigh · 1,501 students
- George Washington High SchoolHigh · 1,182 students
- Prairie PointMiddle · 868 students
- Prairie CreekMiddle · 846 students
Other Van Buren Elementary schools
13 other US public schools in 10 states are named Van Buren Elementary. Van Buren Elementary School is the 8th largest of the 14.
- Van Buren ElementaryPlacentia, CA · 538 students
- Van Buren Elementary SchoolPlainfield, IN · 514 students
- VAN BUREN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLBALDWINSVILLE, NY · 488 students
- Van Buren ElementaryStockton, CA · 473 students
- Van Buren Elementary SchoolVan Buren, OH · 468 students
Nearby schools
- Thomas Jefferson High School1.0 mi · 1,501
- Cleveland Elementary School1.3 mi · 254
- Hoover Elementary School1.4 mi · 420
- Roosevelt Creative Corridor Business Academy1.8 mi · 484
- Cedar River Academy at Taylor1.9 mi · 355
- Wilson Middle School2.2 mi · 422
Frequently asked questions
About Van Buren Elementary SchoolHow many students attend Van Buren Elementary School?
Van Buren Elementary School enrolls approximately 429 students in grades KG-05.
Is Van Buren Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Van Buren Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades KG-05.
How many teachers does Van Buren Elementary School have?
Van Buren Elementary School employs 35 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 12.3:1.
What is the student diversity at Van Buren Elementary School?
Student demographics at Van Buren Elementary School are roughly 22% White, 25% Hispanic, 46% Black, 1% Asian, 4% Two or more.
What district is Van Buren Elementary School in?
Van Buren Elementary School is part of Cedar Rapids Comm School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.