The top reported proficiency rate is 87% in Math. The lowest is 75% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Indian Creek Elementary School
Indian Creek Elementary School serves kindergarten through fourth grade as a regular public school within the Linn-Mar Community School District. The school is located in Marion, Iowa, and draws its attendance from that city as well as the surrounding area. Because it serves an early-elementary grade band only, there is no graduation rate to report. Similarly, data on special education identification and English learner status was not available in the source material.
The academic picture comes from the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress. On the most recent testing cycle, the school’s students posted strong results in both math and English language arts. In math, the share of students meeting or exceeding the proficiency standard placed the school comfortably above the midpoint among districts in Linn County. The same was true for reading and writing skills measured on the ELA assessment. Because these results cover only the tested grades within the school – third and fourth graders – they represent the performance of students in the upper half of the building. The science assessment data is several years old and comes from a testing cycle in which both the test name and the cut scores were later changed, so direct comparisons with current results are not reliable; parents may want to ask the school for more recent science outcomes directly.
Indian Creek’s peer environment reflects a student body that is predominantly white, with smaller shares of students who are Asian, Black, Hispanic, or identify with two or more races. About one in six students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate that suggests a relatively low level of economic need compared to many schools in the state. The overall enrollment of the school is typical for an elementary building serving this grade span.
The housing market around the school, based on the ZIP code covering the attendance area, shows home values that have been rising at a modest pace and rents that have increased more sharply. The typical monthly rent in the area is below the estimated mortgage payment for a median-priced home, so renting may be a more manageable short-term option for families. The broader economic context includes a national unemployment rate and a mortgage rate that have been fairly stable in recent months.
The district itself has undergone a structural change that affects how families experience the elementary years. In recent years, Linn-Mar opened two new intermediate schools – Hazel Point and Boulder Peak – which shifted the grade configuration so that fifth and sixth graders now attend separate intermediate buildings before moving to middle school. That means students who attend Indian Creek through fourth grade will then transition to an intermediate school, not a traditional middle school, for two years. The district also offers junior kindergarten alongside preschool, providing an entry point for younger children. Families moving into the area may want to consider the lasting property tax rate, which supports these facilities and programming, though specific budget figures are not detailed here.
The school’s overall proficiency index – a composite of its math and ELA results – placed it in the top quartile when measured against all districts in Linn County. That metric uses the school’s own scores, so it gives a sense of how this elementary building’s academic output compares with district-level averages across the county. The result is a clear signal that Indian Creek’s tested students perform at a high level relative to the broader region.
Information on chronic absenteeism and discipline was not available in the source data, so parents should inquire directly about attendance patterns and school climate. Similarly, no details were provided about course access, staffing ratios, or support services such as counseling or special education programming. For families weighing this school, the core takeaway is a strong academic record on core elementary subjects, a modestly priced housing market with rising rents, and a district structure that sends students to an intermediate school after fourth grade.
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