Enrollment
148
Iowa · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Alden, IA
Alden Elementary School
Federal NCES profile for Alden Elementary School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 57/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 190003201317
👥 S:T ratio 65
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 70
📋 Attendance 22
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Alden Elementary School earns 57/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 97% of Iowa schools.
- 57
- Resource Index · Higher
- 8.7:1
- small classes for Iowa
- 28.9%
- free-lunch eligible
- 148
- students enrolled
Alden Elementary School has class sizes smaller than 97% of Iowa schools. Computed live against every Iowa school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Alden Comm School District · Iowa
NCES ID 190003201317 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
17.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
8.7:1
vs 14.8:1 Iowa avg
-41% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
28.9%
vs 36.4% Iowa avg
-21% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Alden Elementary School compares with Iowa and U.S. medians
What stands out at Alden Elementary School
Small campus with unusually lean teacher staffing
Alden Elementary School sits near the smaller end of the Iowa enrollment distribution while also reporting a lower student-teacher ratio than most state schools. That pairing is consistent with a compact, teacher-dense setting, though small scale can limit the number of specialized courses or support roles a campus can sustain. The program and staffing sections below show whether the lean ratio extends beyond classroom teachers into broader student services.
Resource indicators are the standout signal
Alden Elementary School's economic-need measure is not at a state extreme, while its Resource Investment Index is. The campus outranks most Iowa schools on the combined reported-resource measure, so the differentiator comes from staffing, counselor access, gifted programming, or attendance rather than from an unusually low-need population alone. The component breakdown identifies which inputs actually produce that placement.
Attendance is the dominant support signal
Alden Elementary School's 31.1% chronic-absence rate is more consequential than a generic staffing label: at least one quarter of students missed 10% or more of school days in the 2021-22 collection. That level can affect instruction, counseling demand, and continuity even when other reported resources look ordinary. The dataset records the scale of absence but not its causes, so it should prompt a current-year question rather than a conclusion about school management.
Alden Elementary School is a small combined-grade school in Alden, Iowa, enrolling 148 students.
Classes run notably small here: at 8.7:1, Alden Elementary School is leaner than roughly 97% of Iowa schools and 41% under the state's 14.8:1 norm, more adult attention per pupil than most peers.
Economic need runs somewhat below the state's typical profile, with 28.9% of students eligible for free meals.
Enrollment of 148 puts it in the smaller third of Iowa schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index lands in the upper third of 1,322 scored Iowa schools.
Against 203 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks in the upper tier at #58.
Its student body is predominantly White (85% of enrollment) (diversity index 26/100).
Counselor coverage is strong, about 148 students per counselor, inside the American School Counselor Association's recommended 250:1.
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 31.1% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
The surrounding Alden Comm School District spends $16,654 per pupil, 24% above the Iowa average, a better-resourced district than most.
Alden Comm School District operates only this one school, so Alden Elementary School has no district-mates to compare against locally.
Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
How Alden Elementary School compares
Alden Elementary School on the metrics families compare, against Iowa and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Iowa | Iowa avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 8.7:1 | ▼ 41% | 14.8:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 28.9% | ▼ 21% | 36.4% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 148 | top 86% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
8.7:1
Leaner classes than 93% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
148
Bigger than 14% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
28.9%
free-lunch eligible
- 21% below the Iowa average of 36.4%
Below the 40% Title I threshold; federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
8.7:1
students per teacher
- 41% below state mean
Top 3% in Iowa - lower ratio than 97% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
31.1%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$16,654
per pupil, district-wide
- above Iowa avg of $13,441
Somewhat below the U.S. average per-pupil spend; funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 148 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
7
in-school suspensions + 3 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 4.7 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 6.8 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Student demographics
White 85.1%
Hispanic or Latino 9.5%
Two or More 5.4%
Largest group: White at 85.1% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 26.4/100
Simpson diversity index - at 26.4, Alden Elementary School is less mixed than the Iowa school average of 33.8.
Programs
Gifted & talented Yes
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Alden Comm School District, which includes Alden Elementary School.
$16,654
Per student
+24%
vs Iowa
Avg $13,441
-6%
vs U.S.
Avg $17,658
Revenue mix
Local 44.8%
State 45.1%
Federal 10.1%
Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2022-23 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.
Similar other schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Iowa, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~148 students)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Alden Elementary School's federal record.
- Compare Alden Elementary School against another school. Compare schools
- Alden Comm School District's spending and staffing shape this school. District profile
- Confirm current enrollment and boundaries with the school. Choosing guide
Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.
Frequently asked questions about Alden Elementary School
How many students attend Alden Elementary School?
Alden Elementary School has 148 students enrolled. It is a public school in Alden, IA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Alden Elementary School?
The student-teacher ratio at Alden Elementary School is 8.7:1, which is 41% lower than the Iowa average of 14.8:1 and 45% lower than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Alden Elementary School?
28.9% of students at Alden Elementary School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Iowa average of 36.4%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Alden Elementary School?
The largest demographic group at Alden Elementary School is White at 85.1% of enrollment, in Alden, IA.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Alden Elementary School?
Alden Elementary School has a Resource Investment Index of 57/100 (higher reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, gifted-program reporting, counselor availability, chronic absenteeism. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
What other schools are in Alden Comm School District?
None reported; Alden Comm School District operates only Alden Elementary School as a public school district in NCES's records.
Related tools
Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, the data changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.