The top reported proficiency rate is 89% in Math. The lowest is 86% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Jesup Elementary School
Jesup Elementary School serves students from pre-kindergarten through fourth grade in the small Iowa city of Jesup. It is a regular public school within the Jesup Community School District. The school occupies a single campus that is part of the district’s recently updated facilities, which include a new elementary building, early childhood center, and middle school, all located within the compact town footprint.
Jesup itself sits on Highway 20 between Dubuque and Waterloo, functioning largely as a bedroom community for the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metropolitan area. The town has a traditional Main Street with historic buildings, shops, and eateries run by long-time local families. Recent years have brought new subdivisions and population growth, and the district’s school construction reflects that rising enrollment. Housing values in the area have increased as demand has grown, and the median home value sits above the state average but below the national benchmark. Most residents drive alone to work, and the town is car-dependent despite its compact layout.
On state assessments, Jesup Elementary’s students in the tested grades (third and fourth) posted strong results. In math, a large majority of students met or exceeded the proficiency benchmark, and in English language arts the outcome was similarly high. Participation in testing was complete. When compared with other districts in Buchanan County, the school’s overall proficiency index falls in the top quartile. Only one year of data is available, so there is no trend to examine. The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate, and chronic absenteeism data is also absent from the available records.
The student body is predominantly white, with small shares of Black and Hispanic students. A modest share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is consistent with the community’s middle-income profile. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not reported, so it is unclear whether those populations are served within this building or through other arrangements; a parent may want to ask the school directly about special education and language support offerings.
No information on the school’s specific course offerings, staffing, discipline, or attendance patterns was available, and the district brief turned up little about recent changes of lasting impact. The school does not have a charter or magnet designation, and its Title I status is not listed.
For families considering Jesup Elementary, the main picture is a small-town elementary school with strong academic scores on the state test, housed in recently updated facilities, in a community that is growing modestly and attracting new residents drawn to its commuter proximity. Students move on to the district’s middle and high school for later grades, so the elementary experience is one segment of a single-building K-12 pathway within the same district.
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