The top reported proficiency rate is 88% in Math. The lowest is 65% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Central Springs Elementary Manly Campus
Central Springs Elementary Manly Campus serves prekindergarten through third grade in the small, rural town of Manly, Iowa. This school is one of two elementary buildings in the Central Springs Community School District, a district formed by the merger of two earlier districts and one that operates schools across several towns. Because this campus only serves the earliest grades, many of the metrics parents typically look for in a school, such as a graduation rate or course offerings for older students, simply do not apply here.
The academic data available comes from Iowa’s state assessment, which tests students starting in third grade. The school had a small testing cohort, and the results show a split between subjects. In math, a large majority of third graders met or exceeded the proficiency standard. In English language arts, a majority also met that mark, though the share was lower than in math. This is a single year of data, so there is no trend to examine yet. A parent may want to ask the school how it supports early literacy for its youngest students, especially given the gap between the two subjects.
The student body is small and overwhelmingly white. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a core of economic need in the community. The school serves roughly the same number of students at each grade level from kindergarten through third grade, with a somewhat larger prekindergarten program. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the source material.
Manly itself is a town in decline. Its population has been dropping over several decades, a pattern common across much of rural Iowa. Housing values in the area are below the state median, and the local economy has no large private employer identified in public sources; the school district and municipal government are likely among the largest employers. The town retains its railroad heritage and has modest civic amenities, including a public library and a family aquatic center. There is no indication of new housing developments or commercial growth.
Compared to the other districts in Worth County, the school’s overall proficiency across tested subjects sits above the midpoint among them. With only two districts in the county, this means it is on the higher end locally, though the comparison set is very small.
A parent considering this school should understand its context. The building is an early-primary school only, so their child would move to a different campus for fourth grade. The district as a whole has no recent major changes flagged in public sources, so the operations appear stable. The setting is a quiet, shrinking rural town with affordable housing and a straightforward school structure. The academic picture is limited to one tested grade and one year, making it hard to draw strong conclusions about long-term performance, but the initial results show strength in math and room for growth in reading.
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