Enrollment
147
Iowa · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Laurens, IA
Laurens-Marathon Elementary School
Federal NCES profile for Laurens-Marathon Elementary School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 48/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 191642000977
👥 S:T ratio 51
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 51
📋 Attendance 20
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Laurens-Marathon Elementary School earns 48/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 74% of Iowa schools.
- 48
- Resource Index · Typical
- 12.3:1
- small classes for Iowa
- 44.3%
- free-lunch eligible
- 147
- students enrolled
Laurens-Marathon Elementary School has class sizes smaller than 74% of Iowa schools. Computed live against every Iowa school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Laurens-Marathon Comm School District · Iowa
NCES ID 191642000977 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
12.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
12.3:1
vs 14.8:1 Iowa avg
-17% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
44.3%
vs 36.4% Iowa avg
+22% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Laurens-Marathon Elementary School compares with Iowa and U.S. medians
What stands out at Laurens-Marathon Elementary School
Small campus with unusually lean teacher staffing
Laurens-Marathon 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.
Need and resources require a component-level read
Laurens-Marathon Elementary School falls within the wide middle of the Iowa distribution on both free-meal eligibility and the Resource Investment Index. Neither measure supplies an honest headline by itself. The useful distinctions are in the components: classroom staffing, counselor availability, attendance, gifted-program access, and district spending. Those fields can pull in opposite directions even when the overall percentile looks ordinary.
Attendance is the dominant support signal
Laurens-Marathon Elementary School's 32.0% 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.
Laurens-Marathon Elementary School is a small combined-grade school in Laurens, Iowa, enrolling 147 students.
Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 12.3:1 puts it in the smaller third of Iowa schools by student-teacher ratio.
Economic need runs somewhat above the state's typical profile, with 44.3% of students eligible for free meals.
Enrollment of 147 puts it in the smaller third of Iowa schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index sits near the middle of the pack among 1,322 scored Iowa schools.
Against 150 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks mid-pack at #90.
Its student body is led by White (66%) and Hispanic or Latino (21%) (diversity index 51/100).
Counselor coverage is strong, about 245 students per counselor, inside the American School Counselor Association's recommended 250:1.
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 32.0% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
The surrounding Laurens-Marathon Comm School District spends $16,164 per pupil, 20% above the Iowa average, a better-resourced district than most.
Laurens-Marathon Comm School District operates only this one school, so Laurens-Marathon 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 Laurens-Marathon Elementary School compares
Laurens-Marathon 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 | 12.3:1 | ▼ 17% | 14.8:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 44.3% | ▲ 22% | 36.4% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 147 | top 86% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
12.3:1
Leaner classes than 73% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
147
Bigger than 14% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
44.3%
free-lunch eligible
- 22% above the Iowa average of 36.4%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
12.3:1
students per teacher
- 17% below state mean
Top 26% in Iowa - lower ratio than 74% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
32.0%
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
$16,164
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
Counselors0.6 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 1 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 0.7 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Student demographics
White 66.0%
Hispanic or Latino 21.1%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 7.5%
Two or More 2.7%
African American 2.0%
Asian 0.7%
Largest group: White at 66.0% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 51.3/100
Simpson diversity index - at 51.3, Laurens-Marathon Elementary School is more mixed than the Iowa school average of 33.8.
Programs
Gifted & talented Yes
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Laurens-Marathon Comm School District, which includes Laurens-Marathon Elementary School.
$16,164
Per student
+20%
vs Iowa
Avg $13,441
-8%
vs U.S.
Avg $17,658
Revenue mix
Local 43.6%
State 44.3%
Federal 12.1%
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 (~147 students)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Laurens-Marathon Elementary School's federal record.
- Compare Laurens-Marathon Elementary School against another school. Compare schools
- Laurens-Marathon 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 Laurens-Marathon Elementary School
How many students attend Laurens-Marathon Elementary School?
Laurens-Marathon Elementary School has 147 students enrolled. It is a public school in Laurens, IA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Laurens-Marathon Elementary School?
The student-teacher ratio at Laurens-Marathon Elementary School is 12.3:1, which is 17% lower than the Iowa average of 14.8:1 and 22% 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 Laurens-Marathon Elementary School?
44.3% of students at Laurens-Marathon Elementary School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Iowa average of 36.4%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Laurens-Marathon Elementary School?
The largest demographic group at Laurens-Marathon Elementary School is White at 66.0% of enrollment, in Laurens, IA. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 51.3/100.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Laurens-Marathon Elementary School?
Laurens-Marathon Elementary School has a Resource Investment Index of 48/100 (typical 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 Laurens-Marathon Comm School District?
None reported; Laurens-Marathon Comm School District operates only Laurens-Marathon 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.