The top reported proficiency rate is 71% in Math. The lowest is 67% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on South Tama County Elementary School
South Tama County Elementary School serves students from pre-kindergarten through fourth grade in the small city of Tama, Iowa, a place with a distinctive industrial and cultural character. The town originated as a railroad stop along the historic Lincoln Highway and remains home to Iowa’s oldest recycled paper mill as well as the headquarters of the Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa. Tama sits close to Toledo, the county seat, and the two communities have nearly grown together. The population is declining modestly, and the economic base is anchored in manufacturing, construction, and health care. Housing costs are modest relative to state and national benchmarks, and the area is car-dependent.
The school itself is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and no Title I designation was reported in available data. It enrolls roughly five hundred and forty students, which is a moderate size for an elementary school that spans early childhood through fourth grade. The student body is notably diverse for rural Iowa. Around two-fifths of students are Hispanic, and a substantial share are American Indian, reflecting the proximity to the Meskwaki Settlement. White students make up slightly less than half, with small numbers of Asian, Black, and multiracial students. A majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that the school serves a predominantly low-income community. Information on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the data we looked at.
Academically, South Tama County Elementary performed at the top of its small peer group. On state assessments administered in grades three and four, a solid majority of students met proficiency in both math and English language arts, with math performance somewhat stronger. When compared against the two districts in Tama County, the school posted the highest overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades. This is a meaningful distinction, though the comparison universe is small. Only one year of test results was available, so no trend can be assessed.
The school serves only through fourth grade, so there is no graduation rate to report. Information on chronic absenteeism, discipline, course access, and staffing was also absent from the data we had. A parent may want to ask the school or district directly about class sizes, support services, and enrichment offerings, since those details were not captured in the public records reviewed here.
The community context is stable but not growing. Tama’s population has been declining slightly, and the district did not appear to have undergone any recent major changes, such as a property-tax referendum or curriculum overhaul, based on what was publicly reported. Civic life in Tama centers on Siegel Street, where City Hall, the public library, and the historic Lincoln Highway Bridge are located. The town hosts an annual bridge festival and is close to outdoor recreation areas. For families, the school sits within the South Tama County Community School District, which also serves the adjacent town of Toledo.
In sum, South Tama County Elementary is a small-town school with above-average test outcomes relative to its county, a diverse student population, and a high concentration of economic need. The academic picture is a strength, but there are gaps in publicly available information about student support programs, staffing, and extracurricular access that a prospective family would want to explore directly with the school. The surrounding community offers modest housing costs and a quiet, car-dependent lifestyle in a region with a distinct industrial and Native American heritage.
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