The top reported proficiency rate is 61% in English language arts. The lowest is 58% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Kenwood Leadership Academy School
Kenwood Leadership Academy serves students from prekindergarten through fifth grade in Cedar Rapids, part of the Cedar Rapids Community School District. The building sits on the east side of the city, a residential area within a mid-sized city that functions as the economic center of Eastern Iowa, anchored by major employers in grain processing, manufacturing, and aerospace.
The school enrolls a diverse student body. White students make up close to half of the population, with Black students representing about a quarter of the school, and students who identify as two or more races accounting for a substantial share. Hispanic students and Asian or Pacific Islander students make up smaller portions of the enrollment. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school in a notably different economic context than many of its counterpart elementary schools in the district.
On state assessments through the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress, the school's results for the most recent year show a mixed picture. In English language arts, more than six in ten students scored at or above the proficient level. In math, the share was slightly lower, with just under six in ten students meeting that benchmark. Science results were similar, with a comparable proportion scoring proficient. Participation rates on these tests were very high, exceeding ninety-eight percent, which adds reliability to the reported results. Overall proficiency across all tested subjects, when compared against other Linn County school districts, fell in the bottom quartile. This is a soft spot in performance relative to peers in the county, and it suggests that while many students are meeting state standards, a meaningful portion are not, and the school’s overall academic standing is lower than that of most neighboring districts.
The school is a regular public school and is not a charter or magnet school. It does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report, a gap that is expected for a K-5 building. Data on chronic absenteeism and discipline were not available in the materials provided, so a reader cannot draw conclusions about those dimensions of school climate from this account.
The Cedar Rapids Community School District has undergone several notable changes that affect Kenwood. The district has been carrying out a multi-year elementary facilities master plan, opening three new elementary schools since 2022 and closing or consolidating older buildings, with attendance boundaries redrawn district-wide. Families in Kenwood’s attendance zone should be aware that these boundary changes are part of a larger reconfiguration of the district’s elementary footprint. At the same time, the district faced budget reductions for the 2024-25 school year driven by declining enrollment, leading to staff cuts and program adjustments that may affect class sizes and resource allocation across all schools, including Kenwood. The district also added a new secondary option, City View Community High School, which offers experiential and community-based learning for high school families, though this does not directly apply to a PK-5 building.
Housing costs in the area are modest by national standards, with the overall metro area seeing steady growth and recent major economic development, including a large data center announced in 2025. The city’s grain processing industry remains a dominant employer, alongside Collins Aerospace and other large companies. Civic life centers downtown along the Cedar River, and cultural institutions such as the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art and the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library are within reach.
For a parent or resident evaluating Kenwood Leadership Academy, the core takeaway is an elementary school with a diverse and economically varied student body, high test participation, and academic outcomes that trail many other Linn County districts. The district has been actively reshaping its elementary school landscape through new construction and boundary changes, so a family should verify current attendance maps. The school’s performance data does not cover non-academic factors like student support or school climate, which would require a direct inquiry with the school to get a fuller picture.
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