The top reported proficiency rate is 76% in Math. The lowest is 73% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Eisenhower Elementary School
Eisenhower Elementary School is a regular public elementary school in the Ottumwa Community School District, serving kindergarten through fifth grade. It operates within a district that, as of the 2024-25 school year, reorganized which grades are housed at which buildings, a change that directly affects attendance boundaries and transitions for families.
The school is located in Ottumwa, a mid-sized micropolitan city that serves as the seat of Wapello County. Ottumwa has a strong industrial heritage, anchored by major employers including JBS Live Pork, John Deere Ottumwa Works, and the Ottumwa Community School District itself. The city is split by the Des Moines River, with a historic downtown that has seen revitalization, a public library, and city and county government buildings all on the National Register of Historic Places. The Ottumwa Transit Authority provides bus service within the city, and Amtrak’s California Zephyr stops at the local station. Housing in the Zip code associated with Eisenhower is well below both the state and national benchmarks in value, making it a more affordable market relative to larger Iowa metro areas.
Eisenhower itself serves a student body that is diverse. While a large majority of students are white, there are modest shares of Hispanic students, Black students, students who identify as Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and a smaller number of Asian and multiracial students. About a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate that reflects a school community with a substantial number of families in lower-income brackets. Data on the share of students with Individualized Education Programs or English learner status was not available in the data provided, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about how these populations are supported.
On the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress, Eisenhower’s students performed well. Proficiency rates across math, English language arts, and science were all at or above three-quarters of students tested. This places the school’s overall proficiency index in the top quartile relative to other districts in Wapello County, a strong showing for the area. The number of students tested was modest, and participation rates were high. Because this is the only year of state assessment data available in the record, there is no trend to compare it against.
As an elementary school, Eisenhower does not report a graduation rate, and chronic absenteeism data was also not available. Discipline data and details on staffing ratios were likewise absent from the record. The school is not a charter school, and its Title I status was not listed in the data.
For a parent considering this school, the picture is of an elementary building within a district undergoing organizational change, located in a stable industrial city with affordable housing. The academic results from the most recent testing cycle are a clear strength, and the student body is more diverse than the city’s overall demographic profile might suggest. The missing data points on special education and English learner services are gaps worth exploring with the school directly, as they are relevant to how well the school supports all of its students. The district’s grade reconfiguration means that families new to Ottumwa should verify which elementary school their attendance area feeds, as boundaries may have shifted recently.
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