The top reported proficiency rate is 87% in Math. The lowest is 76% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Rock Run Elementary
Rock Run Elementary serves second through fifth grade in Iowa Falls, a small city with a historic downtown and a residential feel located along the Iowa River. The school is part of the Iowa Falls Community School District, and families reading this should understand that the data available gives a fairly clear picture of academic performance but leaves some important questions about the school environment unanswered.
The strongest signal from the data is a positive one. On the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress, Rock Run students performed at a level well above the midpoint among districts in Hardin County. A large majority of students met or exceeded state standards in math, a similar share did so in reading and English language arts, and a substantial majority also met the bar in science. These are consistently strong results that place the school in the top tier of the county for overall proficiency. The school tested nearly all of its students, which adds credibility to the numbers. Because this is the only year of testing data available for this school, there is no trend line yet, but the single snapshot is a favorable one.
The student body is predominantly white, with a Hispanic population that represents a meaningful share of enrollment and a small number of multiracial students. The school is not a charter school, and it follows the regular public school model. A notable share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a moderate degree of economic diversity in the building. The school serves a straightforward grade band of second through fifth, so there are no graduating seniors to track; a graduation rate is not applicable here.
What is missing creates some gaps for a parent. No data was available on the number of students receiving special education services or English learner support. Likewise, the school’s discipline records, attendance and chronic absenteeism rates, and staffing ratios were not reported. A parent considering Rock Run will want to ask the school directly about class sizes, how students with individualized education plans are supported, and what the day-to-day school climate is like. These are not unusual omissions from public data sets for elementary schools, but they are real unknowns.
The Iowa Falls community itself is stable but not growing. Population has slowly declined over the past several years, and the housing market is affordable relative to state and national benchmarks. The downtown has seen a streetscape refresh, and the presence of Ellsworth Community College and a major hog producer as local economic anchors gives the area a working-class and retiree-friendly character. The school district did not have any major recent changes publicly reported that would alter a family’s sense of stability.
Rock Run looks to be an elementary school where state test scores are a clear strength and the student population is economically mixed but not especially diverse. The missing data on special programs and school climate means a family should make a point of visiting and asking questions, but on the academic information available, this is a school performing well above the average in its county.
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