Enrollment
58
Iowa · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Diagonal, IA
Diagonal Elementary School
Federal NCES profile for Diagonal Elementary School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 59/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 190906000593
👥 S:T ratio 61
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 28
📋 Attendance 78
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Diagonal Elementary School earns 59/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 94% of Iowa schools. It is also one of the smallest schools in Iowa.
- 59
- Resource Index · Higher
- 9.7:1
- small classes for Iowa
- 29.4%
- free-lunch eligible
- 58
- students enrolled
Diagonal Elementary School has class sizes smaller than 94% of Iowa schools. Computed live against every Iowa school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Diagonal Comm School District · Iowa
NCES ID 190906000593 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
6.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
9.7:1
vs 14.8:1 Iowa avg
-34% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
29.4%
vs 36.4% Iowa avg
-19% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Diagonal Elementary School compares with Iowa and U.S. medians
What stands out at Diagonal Elementary School
Small campus with unusually lean teacher staffing
Diagonal 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
Diagonal 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 a relative strength
8.6% of Diagonal Elementary School students were chronically absent in the 2021-22 civil-rights collection. On its face, that is a comparatively low historical rate, though this page does not treat it as a current national benchmark or guarantee current-year performance. Here, attendance is a more distinctive signal than the presence or absence of any single specialist role.
Diagonal Elementary School is a small combined-grade school in Diagonal, Iowa, enrolling 58 students.
Classes run notably small here: at 9.7:1, Diagonal Elementary School is leaner than roughly 94% of Iowa schools and 34% 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 29.4% of students eligible for free meals.
This is a small campus: fewer students than 96% of Iowa schools, with 58 enrolled.
Its Resource Investment Index outscores 90% of the 1,322 Iowa schools with a score on record, a top-tier result on this measure.
Among 24 similarly sized, similarly resourced-need Iowa schools statewide, it ranks #3, a top-tier result once campus size and economic need are matched.
Its student body is predominantly White (100% of enrollment), among the less diverse in the state (diversity index 0/100).
Counselor availability sits well past the ASCA benchmark, roughly 363 students sharing each counselor, though short of the most stretched campuses.
Attendance holds up well here: only 8.6% of students were chronically absent, below the typical post-pandemic national figure.
The surrounding Diagonal Comm School District spends $17,085 per pupil, 27% above the Iowa average, a better-resourced district than most.
Its district draws 17.4% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.
Among Diagonal's public schools, it stands alongside Diagonal Junior-Senior High School (52 students): Diagonal Elementary School is larger than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (9.7:1 vs 10.4:1).
Its district, Diagonal Comm School District, also runs Diagonal Junior-Senior High School (52 students).
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 Diagonal Elementary School compares
Diagonal 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 | 9.7:1 | ▼ 34% | 14.8:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 29.4% | ▼ 19% | 36.4% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 58 | top 96% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
9.7:1
Leaner classes than 90% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
58
Bigger than 6% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
29.4%
free-lunch eligible
- 19% 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
9.7:1
students per teacher
- 34% below state mean
Top 6% in Iowa - lower ratio than 94% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
8.6%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
In the 5-10% range, close to the pre-pandemic national baseline.
Funding equity
$17,085
per pupil, district-wide
- above Iowa avg of $13,441
Close to the U.S. public-school average per-pupil spend.
Support staff
Counselors0.2 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
8
in-school suspensions + 3 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 13.8 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 19.0 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Student demographics
White 100.0%
Largest group: White at 100.0% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 0.0/100
Simpson diversity index - at 0.0, Diagonal 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 Diagonal Comm School District, which includes Diagonal Elementary School.
$17,085
Per student
+27%
vs Iowa
Avg $13,441
-3%
vs U.S.
Avg $17,658
Revenue mix
Local 45.0%
State 37.6%
Federal 17.4%
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.
How Diagonal Elementary School Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diagonal Junior-Senior High School | Similar size | Higher economic need | Similar S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Diagonal Elementary School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 52
- Students per teacher
- 10.4:1
- Resource Index
- 41/100
Similar other schools in Diagonal
1 comparable other schools (grades Mixed) serving the same city.
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 (~58 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~9.7:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Diagonal Elementary School's federal record.
- Compare Diagonal Elementary School against another school. Compare schools
- Diagonal 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 Diagonal Elementary School
How many students attend Diagonal Elementary School?
Diagonal Elementary School has 58 students enrolled. It is a public school in Diagonal, IA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Diagonal Elementary School?
The student-teacher ratio at Diagonal Elementary School is 9.7:1, which is 34% lower than the Iowa average of 14.8:1 and 38% 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 Diagonal Elementary School?
29.4% of students at Diagonal Elementary School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Iowa average of 36.4%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Diagonal Elementary School?
The largest demographic group at Diagonal Elementary School is White at 100.0% of enrollment, in Diagonal, IA.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Diagonal Elementary School?
Diagonal Elementary School has a Resource Investment Index of 59/100 (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 Diagonal Comm School District?
Besides Diagonal Elementary School, Diagonal Comm School District also operates Diagonal Junior-Senior High School (52 students). See the Diagonal Comm School District district page for the complete list.
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.