The top reported proficiency rate is 94% in Math. The lowest is 78% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Dysart-geneseo Elementary School
Dysart-Geneseo Elementary School serves the small, primarily residential town of Dysart in Tama County, roughly a half-hour drive south of Waterloo. The school is one of two elementary buildings in the Union Community School District, which also includes a middle school in Dysart and a high school plus the district office in La Porte City, about a dozen miles north. Dysart itself is a compact farm town with a wide Main Street that leads to the city park and a modest commercial core. The population has seen a slight decline in recent years, and while the town brands itself as community-minded with events like a weekly farmers market and seasonal festivals, no major new housing or commercial projects were identified in publicly available sources. The school sits within this quiet, low-growth context, serving a student body that is small for its grade span.
The school is a regular public elementary serving prekindergarten through fifth grade, with an enrollment of around two hundred students. The student body is predominantly white, with a smaller share of Hispanic students and students who identify as two or more races; there are very small numbers of Asian and Black students. About a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, a share typical of many Iowa rural districts. Data for students with individualized education plans and English learners were not available in the provided sources, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about special education and language services.
State testing results from the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress for the most recent school year show strong performance. In English language arts, the share of students scoring proficient or above was high, and in mathematics it was even higher. Science, which is tested only at one or two elementary grades, also showed a solid proficient rate. In comparison with the two school districts in Tama County, the school’s overall proficiency index across tested subjects placed it in the top quartile of those districts. This is a clear strength and indicates that, within its local context, Dysart-Geneseo Elementary is delivering strong academic outcomes for its elementary-age students. Because this is an elementary school with no tested high school grades, there is no graduation rate to consider, and chronic absenteeism data were not available for this report.
The school building is located on Lincoln Street in Dysart, and the district has not reported any recent major changes such as boundary adjustments, bond referendums, or curriculum shifts in publicly available materials. Housing in the Dysart area is moderately priced relative to national averages, with typical home values near the state median. For a family seeking a small-town elementary school with a strong track record on state assessments and a calm, rural setting, Dysart-Geneseo Elementary offers a straightforward academic pathway through fifth grade, after which students attend the district’s middle school in town and the high school in La Porte City.
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