The top reported proficiency rate is 71% in Math. The lowest is 56% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Lincoln Elementary School
Lincoln Elementary School serves students in kindergarten through fifth grade in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, a city that functions as the county seat of Henry County and sits at the intersection of manufacturing, distribution, agribusiness, and a historic downtown that lost its college town anchor when Iowa Wesleyan University closed in 2023. The school is one of four elementary schools in the Mount Pleasant Community School District, and it is located at 501 South Corkhill, placing it within the town’s residential fabric.
State testing results from the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress, or ISASP, provide a picture of academic performance in the school’s tested grades of three through five. In mathematics, the share of students meeting proficiency was above the midpoint among the set of tested subjects at this school. In English language arts, the figure was lower, with just over half of students scoring at the proficient level or above. Science, which is tested only in a single grade at this level, had a proficiency rate that fell between the math and ELA results. Participation rates on the assessments were high, meaning the results reflect the vast majority of enrolled students. When compared across the four districts in Henry County, Lincoln Elementary’s overall proficiency index, which averages performance across all tested subjects and grades, placed below the midpoint of the county’s districts.
The school enrolls a population that is predominantly white, with a Hispanic or Latino share that is sizable, and smaller shares of Asian students and students who identify as two or more races. A substantial share of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the provided records. The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report, which is standard for an elementary school.
Family choices about this school are shaped largely by the community context. Mount Pleasant has a low population density by urban standards, a traditional small-town grid, and a paved recreation trail system that connects the high school to East Lake Park. The closure of Iowa Wesleyan University removed a major civic and employment anchor, though the city continues to host the annual Midwest Old Threshers Reunion, a significant regional event. Major employers include a Walmart distribution center and several manufacturing and agribusiness firms, as well as the county health center, a state correctional facility, and the school district itself. Housing values in the area sit below the state benchmark and below the national benchmark, which may affect the range of families who can afford to live within the school’s attendance boundary. The district brief did not turn up any recent parent-relevant changes such as referendums, curriculum shifts, or property tax adjustments, so no information about pending or recent shifts in district direction was available.
For a family considering Lincoln Elementary, the picture is one of a regular elementary school in a small city with a manufacturing and agribusiness economy, where test results in math are stronger than in reading, and where the overall academic profile sits slightly below the middle of the county’s districts. A parent who wants to understand how the school addresses the gap between math and reading performance may wish to follow up directly with the school or district. The student body has economic diversity, and the school appears to serve a broad cross-section of Mount Pleasant families. The absence of data on special education and English learner populations means a parent with a child who needs those services should ask the school for those figures directly.
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