CARDINAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

CARDINAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is one of the big elementary campuss in SO SIOUX CITY, Nebraska, part of SO SIOUX CITY COMMUNITY SCHS, with 424 students on its rolls from grades pre-K through 5. Compared to the state average of about 272 students per school, that is 56% above typical.

SO SIOUX CITY COMMUNITY SCHS runs 8 schools in total, collectively educating 3,871 students. CARDINAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is one of those campuses.

On the student-mix side, CARDINAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL reports that Hispanic students make up the majority at 70%. Other groups include 15% White, 7% Black, 2% Asian, 2% Native American. By comparison, Dakota County as a whole is about 42% Hispanic, so the school skews noticeably more Hispanic than its surroundings.

On the income-and-resources front, On paper, CARDINAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL has 32 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 13.3:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 21.0:1, putting CARDINAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL tighter than the state norm the norm. An estimated 61% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.

After controlling for student poverty, CARDINAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 55.1%, the actual is 56.6%, a residual of +1.5 points.

Around the school, the surrounding county (Dakota County) shows that median household income runs about $70,329, 15% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 10%. Across Dakota County's 11 public schools (combined enrollment of about 4,437 students), CARDINAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is one campus in the mix.

SOUTH SIOUX HIGH SCHOOL is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.3 miles from this campus. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, CARDINAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL comes 2nd of 6 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 52.1%.

The school occupies a commuter-belt site.

Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at CARDINAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL has ticked up 3%, going from 411 students in 2018 to 424 in 2025. Hispanic enrollment moved from 64% to 70% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio widened from 12.2:1 in 2018 to 13.3:1 today.

On this page, recent activity here tends to focus on sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.