Van Buren Elementary School

As a mid-sized primary school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Van Buren Elementary School teaches 429 students from grades K through 5, overseen by Cedar Rapids Comm School District. By comparison, Iowa's public schools average about 325 students each, so Van Buren Elementary School sits 32% larger than that benchmark.

Cedar Rapids Comm School District comprises 35 schools with combined enrollment of 15,494 students; Van Buren Elementary School is among them.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Van Buren Elementary School records that the largest single group is Black at 46%, but no single group is in the majority. Other groups include 25% Hispanic, 22% White, 4% multiracial. That is noticeably more Black than the county at large, where the share is closer to 6%.

On the income-and-resources front, Staff filings list 35 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 12.3:1 students per teacher. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 13.7:1, putting Van Buren Elementary School tighter than the state norm the norm. Around 84% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. That share is north of Linn County's rate of about 40%.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Van Buren Elementary School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 50.1%, the actual is 43.7%, a residual of -6.4 points.

In the area at large, Linn County reports that median household earnings sit near $77,649, roughly 35% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 6%. In all, Linn County runs 83 public schools (combined enrollment of about 36,480 students), of which Van Buren Elementary School is one.

Thomas Jefferson High School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 1.0 miles from this campus. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Van Buren Elementary School ranks 7th on composite proficiency, below the local average of 49.5%.

The campus sits in an inner-city setting.

Over the past 7-year window. Van Buren Elementary School's enrollment has ticked down 3% since 2018, when it stood at 442 (now 429). The White share of enrollment edged down from 44% to 22% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio fell from 15.4:1 in 2018 to 12.3:1 today.

Within the allk12 community for this school, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.