The top reported proficiency rate is 77% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Mfl Marmac Elementary School
MFL MarMac Elementary School serves students from prekindergarten through third grade in Monona, a small town in Clayton County in northeast Iowa. It is a regular public school within the MFL MarMac Community School District, a district that was created by a merger of earlier districts. The town sits at a high elevation and historically centered on farming. Downtown Monona is the town’s core, but it faces challenges: the community describes it as suffering from a sense of isolation and being too dark at night, with incomplete sidewalks and limited pedestrian infrastructure unlike a suburban or urban school setting. The town has seen a gradual population decline over recent decades, though it also has ongoing development plans on its southwestern edge and proposed residential growth northeast of town. Parents considering this school will be weighing a small-town environment against a contracting local population base.
The school’s enrollment is moderate for a school limited to early elementary grades. The student body is predominantly white. A substantial share of students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, which reflects the economic makeup of a community where farming is a traditional anchor and where no single large employer dominates. The school offers no magnet or charter status.
Academically, the school’s state test results are available for third grade only, since that is the only tested grade within this PK-3 building. In both math and English language arts, proficiency rates among tested students were strong, with the share of students reaching the proficient level well above half. These results sit above the midpoint relative to other schools within the same grade span across Clayton County. The data shows a full participation rate, meaning nearly every student took the assessments. The academic picture is one of solid performance in a single tested year, though with only one grade assessed and one year of data, there is no trend line to examine. A parent looking for evidence of growth over time will not find it here.
The school does not have reported data on special education identification or English learner populations. That absence may simply reflect how the data is collected, but a parent with a child who receives specialized services may want to ask the school directly about its special education programs and staffing.
Housing in Monona is relatively affordable. Home values have risen recently, similar to national trends, but remain below the national benchmark. The estimated monthly mortgage payment on a median-priced home is roughly one-seventh of the national median household income, which suggests that buying a home here is within reach for many families, especially those already in the region. Rents have increased steadily in recent years, in line with national patterns.
The school offers no course access data, no discipline data, and no attendance or chronic absenteeism data, all of which are gaps that likely reflect the limited data reporting for early elementary schools rather than a problem. Parents will have to rely on direct conversations with the school if they want details on classroom climate or student support structures.
MFL MarMac Elementary School fits families who are looking for a traditional early elementary program in a small rural town where academic performance on state tests is solid and housing costs are moderate. The school does not have the program breadth, test trend data, or student-support metrics that a suburban or urban school of larger scale might provide, and a parent seeking those details will want to ask specifically. The trajectory of the town itself is mixed: there is new development proposed, but the population has been slowly declining, so the peer group your child enters may be smaller than it once was. For a family already oriented toward this part of northeast Iowa, the school offers a straightforward early education with reliable academic results.
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