The top reported proficiency rate is 54% in Science. The lowest is 44% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Cedar South School
Cedar South School serves students from kindergarten through fifth grade in Cedar City, a community that sits at the intersection of residential life, higher education, and tourism in southern Utah. The school is part of Iron District, the public school system that covers the county. Cedar City itself has a steady-growth character; its economy is anchored by Southern Utah University, tourism tied to regional national parks and the Utah Shakespeare Festival, home construction, and a small manufacturing base. The district recently passed a bond to build new schools and has redrawn attendance boundaries to manage enrollment pressure, which means Cedar South’s current feeder pattern is not necessarily permanent.
The school’s enrollment is large for an elementary building serving only these grades. The student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Hispanic students and a handful of other racial and ethnic groups represented. About a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate that places the school near the middle of the district’s socioeconomic range. The school is not a charter and does not appear to have magnet or Title I designations.
On state assessments, Cedar South’s results sit around the middle of the field. In math, roughly two out of five students scored at the proficient level or above. In English language arts, the share was about half. Science proficiency came in a bit higher, with roughly half of students meeting the bar. These figures placed the school above the midpoint for overall proficiency when compared with the other districts in Iron County, though the county set as a whole includes only four districts, so the range is narrow. A parent should note that the data covers only one recent year per subject, and the state changed cut scores for English language arts recently, which may affect how this year’s results compare with prior years. Participation rates for the tests were not reported, so it is not possible to confirm whether all students were tested.
Because Cedar South is an elementary school, there is no graduation rate to report, no chronic absenteeism data, and no discipline data in the available record. The school’s course access and staffing ratios were also absent from the data. A family that wants to know about class sizes, teacher experience, or support for students with disabilities or English learners would need to ask the school directly; those specific counts were not provided here.
Cedar South is located on the south side of Cedar City, a short distance from the university and downtown. The city’s historic Main Street area is compact and walkable, with local shops and restaurants, and the university’s arts venues are integrated into the same corridor. Paved trails connect parts of town for biking and hiking. Housing in the area is moderately priced relative to the state median, with home values around mid-four hundred thousand and rents near the national-average range. The local unemployment rate has been stable at a moderate level. For families moving to the area, the district’s recent boundary changes and bond passage signal that the school system is actively retooling its physical capacity, which could mean future reassignments for Cedar South’s attendance zone.
The school’s academic profile is essentially middle-of-the-pack for Iron County. Proficiency rates are not notably high, but they are not the lowest in the county either. For a parent whose primary concern is a safe, conventional elementary school in a growing city with a university-town feel, Cedar South fits that description. A parent seeking a school with standout test scores would want to look at other options in the district or consider private or charter alternatives; the data available here does not indicate that Cedar South is unusually strong or weak in academic performance. The lack of information on special education services and English learner support means that families with children who need those resources should contact the school directly to understand what is available.
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