The top reported proficiency rate is 69% in Math. The lowest is 43% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Longfellow Elementary School
Longfellow Elementary School serves students from prekindergarten through fifth grade in Council Bluffs, a mid-sized city that sits across the Missouri River from Omaha, Nebraska. The school is part of the Council Bluffs Community School District, which operates a network of neighborhood schools across the city. Council Bluffs itself blends railroad and transportation heritage with food processing, manufacturing, and a significant casino gaming sector, and its population has been relatively stable in recent years. The school is located in a residential area of the city, and the district did not have any recent major changes publicly reported.
Longfellow is a regular public elementary school with a student body that is predominantly white, with a substantial Hispanic population and smaller shares of students who are Black, Asian, American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, or of two or more races. More than half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that a majority of families face economic challenges. The school serves prekindergarten through fifth grade, and its enrollment is spread fairly evenly across the elementary grades, with a slightly larger kindergarten cohort.
On the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress, Longfellow’s results show a clear split between subjects. In math, a strong majority of students met the proficiency standard, a result that places the school’s overall proficiency index in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in Pottawattamie County. In English language arts, about half of students were proficient. In science, the share of students reaching proficiency was lower. The school’s overall proficiency index, which averages results across tested subjects and grades, sits in the bottom quartile among the county’s districts. A parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand how the school supports students who are not yet meeting the bar, particularly in reading and science.
The school’s participation rates on the state assessments were high, meaning the results reflect nearly all enrolled students. Because this is a single year of data, there is no trend to compare against.
Longfellow is a neighborhood elementary school in a district that has not publicly reported any major recent changes. The school itself does not appear to offer specialized programs or magnet themes; it is a regular public school serving its attendance zone. Housing in the area is more affordable than the national median, and rents are also below the national benchmark, which may matter for families considering the neighborhood.
For a family looking at Longfellow, the picture is one of a school where math performance is a relative strength, while English language arts and science results are areas where many students are not yet meeting the state standard. The school serves a population where economic need is common, and the student body is diverse in its racial and ethnic makeup. The school does not have publicly reported data on special education or English learner populations, so a parent with a child who has an individualized education program or is learning English would want to ask the school directly about those supports. The district has not publicly reported any major recent changes, so the school’s programming and approach appear to be stable. For a family considering this attendance zone, the housing market is more affordable than the national average, and the school offers a standard elementary program in a community with a working-class and industrial economic base.
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