Best Public Schools in Council Bluffs, IA

Summary:

The Council Bluffs, Iowa area is home to 17 schools across two school districts - the Council Bluffs Community School District and the Lewis Central Community School District. The schools serve students from elementary through high school, with a mix of strong performers and lower-performing institutions.

Several schools stand out in the data, including Lewis Central Senior High School, which consistently ranks in the top half of Iowa high schools, and two elementary schools - College View Elementary and Hoover Elementary - that have also performed exceptionally well, ranking in the top half and top third of Iowa elementary schools, respectively. These higher-performing schools tend to have higher per-student spending and lower student-teacher ratios.

However, the data also reveals a significant gap in academic performance between the top-performing schools and the lower-performing schools, such as Franklin Elementary, Longfellow Elementary, and Bloomer Elementary. This disparity suggests that students in the Council Bluffs area may have vastly different educational experiences depending on which school they attend, and that district-level factors, such as funding and policies, may play a significant role in shaping the quality of education at the individual school level.

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2024)				Ranking (2023)				ISASP English Language Arts (2024)									ISASP Mathematics (2024)									ISASP Science (2024)			Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	SchoolDigger Rating (2024)	Average Standard Score (2023)	Statewide Rank (2023)	State Percentile (2023)	Rank Change from Previous Year	ISASP English Language Arts 3rd Grade	ISASP English Language Arts 4th Grade	ISASP English Language Arts 5th Grade	ISASP English Language Arts 6th Grade	ISASP English Language Arts 7th Grade	ISASP English Language Arts 8th Grade	ISASP English Language Arts 9th Grade	ISASP English Language Arts 10th Grade	ISASP English Language Arts 11th Grade	ISASP Mathematics 3rd Grade	ISASP Mathematics 4th Grade	ISASP Mathematics 5th Grade	ISASP Mathematics 6th Grade	ISASP Mathematics 7th Grade	ISASP Mathematics 8th Grade	ISASP Mathematics 9th Grade	ISASP Mathematics 10th Grade	ISASP Mathematics 11th Grade	ISASP Science 5th Grade	ISASP Science 8th Grade	ISASP Science 10th Grade	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Abraham Lincoln High School	Public	9-12	1205 Bonham Ave	Council Bluffs	51503	Pottawattamie County	Council Bluffs Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 328-6481	1,399	88	15.9	51.8%	1,049 (75.0%)	46 (3.3%)	225 (16.1%)	20 (1.4%)	7 (0.5%)	7 (0.5%)	45 (3.2%)	15.3	304^th of 338 public high schools	10.1%		11.8	308^th of 336 public high schools	8.3%	4							68.5	64.3	58.5							45.9	47.6	45.0			39.7	$19,459	$745	$18,715
Bloomer Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	210 S 7th Street	Council Bluffs	51501	Pottawattamie County	Council Bluffs Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(712) 328-6519	422	31	13.5	71.1%	335 (79.4%)	26 (6.2%)	44 (10.4%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	13 (3.1%)	22.6	464^th of 557 public elementary schools	16.7%		21.6	473^rd of 565 public elementary schools	16.3%	9	54.1	52.1	54.1							75.4	52.1	59.0							42.6			$19,330	$1,175	$18,155
Edison Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	2218 3rd Avenue	Council Bluffs	51501	Pottawattamie County	Council Bluffs Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(712) 328-6516	432	31	13.9	63.0%	318 (73.6%)	11 (2.5%)	84 (19.4%)	2 (0.5%)	4 (0.9%)	1 (0.2%)	12 (2.8%)	25.7	455^th of 557 public elementary schools	18.3%		48.8	334^th of 565 public elementary schools	40.9%	121	43.1	64.1	54.9							66.7	69.2	64.8							46.5			$18,750	$1,398	$17,351
Franklin Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	3130 Ave C	Council Bluffs	51501	Pottawattamie County	Council Bluffs Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(712) 328-6469	497	30	16.5	63.6%	340 (68.4%)	35 (7.0%)	87 (17.5%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.6%)	30 (6.0%)	20.9	468^th of 557 public elementary schools	16.0%		21.3	475^th of 565 public elementary schools	15.9%	7	43.8	63.9	55.9							62.5	56.9	61.8							45.6			$17,313	$1,173	$16,140
Gerald W Kirn Middle School	Public	6-8	100 North Ave	Council Bluffs	51503	Pottawattamie County	Council Bluffs Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 328-6454	956	65	14.7	54.3%	776 (81.2%)	19 (2.0%)	110 (11.5%)	6 (0.6%)	7 (0.7%)	2 (0.2%)	36 (3.8%)	30.3	266^th of 337 public middle schools	21.1%		36	244^th of 334 public middle schools	26.9%	22				61.4	66.1	70.5							65.0	67.9	69.7					63.2		$17,547	$654	$16,893
Hoover Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	1205 North Broadway	Council Bluffs	51503	Pottawattamie County	Council Bluffs Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 328-6537	429	30	14.0	48.5%	361 (84.1%)	12 (2.8%)	39 (9.1%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (3.5%)	69.1	171^st of 557 public elementary schools	69.3%		59.4	253^rd of 565 public elementary schools	55.2%	82	59.0	78.8	78.6							76.9	83.8	84.3							67.1			$17,477	$593	$16,884
Lewis & Clark Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	1603 Grand Ave	Council Bluffs	51503	Pottawattamie County	Council Bluffs Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 328-6471	257	17	15.1	49.8%	214 (83.3%)	11 (4.3%)	20 (7.8%)	1 (0.4%)	2 (0.8%)	2 (0.8%)	7 (2.7%)	39.6	388^th of 557 public elementary schools	30.3%		41.3	390^th of 565 public elementary schools	31.0%	2	57.6	74.4	46.8							75.8	87.2	70.2							36.2			$19,301	$591	$18,710
Longfellow Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	2011 S 10th St	Council Bluffs	51501	Pottawattamie County	Council Bluffs Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(712) 328-6522	481	31	15.5	60.5%	326 (67.8%)	11 (2.3%)	99 (20.6%)	9 (1.9%)	9 (1.9%)	3 (0.6%)	24 (5.0%)	18.5	476^th of 557 public elementary schools	14.5%		10.9	522^nd of 565 public elementary schools	7.6%	46	47.5	49.2	39.4							73.8	60.0	63.4							35.2			$18,279	$1,230	$17,049
Roosevelt Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	517 N 17th St	Council Bluffs	51501	Pottawattamie County	Council Bluffs Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(712) 328-6528	462	30	15.4	60.2%	350 (75.8%)	20 (4.3%)	63 (13.6%)	3 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	24 (5.2%)	13.6	496^th of 557 public elementary schools	11.0%		20.8	477^th of 565 public elementary schools	15.6%	19	42.9	55.7	43.3							66.7	54.1	55.0							38.3			$19,039	$1,554	$17,485
Rue Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	3326 6th Avenue	Council Bluffs	51501	Pottawattamie County	Council Bluffs Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(712) 328-6540	372	32	11.6	56.2%	264 (71.0%)	8 (2.2%)	76 (20.4%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	20 (5.4%)	34.7	416^th of 557 public elementary schools	25.3%		20.2	481^st of 565 public elementary schools	14.9%	65	51.2	47.2	69.8							73.8	58.5	72.1							60.5			$19,242	$1,012	$18,230
Thomas Jefferson High School	Public	9-12	2501 W Broadway	Council Bluffs	51501	Pottawattamie County	Council Bluffs Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(712) 328-6493	1,243	65	19.1	64.9%	877 (70.6%)	64 (5.1%)	238 (19.1%)	17 (1.4%)	4 (0.3%)	3 (0.2%)	40 (3.2%)	11.3	312^th of 338 public high schools	7.7%		11.3	310^th of 336 public high schools	7.7%	2							51.3	57.5	46.3							49.2	56.8	43.1			41.0	$19,012	$712	$18,300
Woodrow Wilson Middle School	Public	6-8	712 N 21st St	Council Bluffs	51501	Pottawattamie County	Council Bluffs Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(712) 328-6476	900	65	13.8	75.0%	625 (69.4%)	47 (5.2%)	169 (18.8%)	6 (0.7%)	6 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	47 (5.2%)	16	305^th of 337 public middle schools	9.5%		15	301^st of 334 public middle schools	9.9%	4				59.1	64.2	64.4							65.6	54.6	60.8					50.6		$18,064	$861	$17,203
Titan Hill Intermediate School	Public	2-5	4125 Harry Langdon Blvd.	Council Bluffs	51503	Pottawattamie County	Lewis Central Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(712) 366-8289	863	54	16.0	40.6%	715 (82.9%)	9 (1.0%)	85 (9.8%)	6 (0.7%)	3 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	44 (5.1%)	52.9	314^th of 557 public elementary schools	43.6%		57.2	265^th of 565 public elementary schools	53.1%	49	65.6	72.1	67.7							79.5	76.6	66.4							61.1			$11,381	$352	$11,029
E A Kreft Primary School	Public	PK, KG-1	3206 Renner Dr.	Council Bluffs	51501	Pottawattamie County	Lewis Central Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(712) 366-8292	490	35	13.8	40.4%	387 (79.0%)	8 (1.6%)	64 (13.1%)	4 (0.8%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (5.3%)								(n/a)																						$13,892	$352	$13,540
Lewis Central Senior High School	Public	9-12	3504 Harry Langdon Blvd.	Council Bluffs	51503	Pottawattamie County	Lewis Central Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 366-8322	927	54	17.0	34.4%	757 (81.7%)	14 (1.5%)	109 (11.8%)	9 (1.0%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	37 (4.0%)	62.7	131^st of 338 public high schools	61.2%		55.7	160^th of 336 public high schools	52.4%	29							82.4	77.0	76.3							72.2	72.0	73.5			64.2	$12,326	$379	$11,947
Lewis Central Middle School	Public	6-8	3820 Harry Langdon Blvd.	Council Bluffs	51503	Pottawattamie County	Lewis Central Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 366-8252	742	45	16.5	37.1%	593 (79.9%)	15 (2.0%)	88 (11.9%)	6 (0.8%)	3 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	37 (5.0%)	65.5	112^th of 337 public middle schools	66.8%		63.1	119^th of 334 public middle schools	64.4%	7				82.9	85.8	84.4							77.2	73.9	80.1					68.5		$12,659	$352	$12,307
College View Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1225 College Road	Council Bluffs	51503	Pottawattamie County	Council Bluffs Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 328-6452	449	30	14.7	39.6%	388 (86.4%)	11 (2.4%)	38 (8.5%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (2.2%)	59.4	261^st of 557 public elementary schools	53.1%		63.2	217^th of 565 public elementary schools	61.6%	44	72.3	87.7	67.2							81.5	82.5	67.2							53.7			$17,397	$688	$16,709

Cities Near Council Bluffs

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Carter Lake	4.16 mi	1	389^th
Underwood	12.63 mi	3	40^th
Treynor	12.83 mi	3	7^th
Glenwood	15.03 mi	4	79^th
Missouri Valley	21.29 mi	3	259^th

See the top IA Iowa cities

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Iowa Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.