Summary:
The Van Buren County Community School District in Iowa operates three schools: two elementary schools and one combined middle and high school. The district serves a predominantly white student population, with free and reduced-price lunch rates ranging from 53% to 67%, indicating a significant number of economically disadvantaged students.
The standout school in the district is the Van Buren County Community Middle & High School, which has shown consistent improvement in its statewide ranking, moving from 183rd out of 332 Iowa high schools in 2021-2022 to 55th out of 338 in 2023-2024. The school's test scores are significantly above the state averages in both English Language Arts and Mathematics across all grade levels. In contrast, the district's elementary schools, Van Buren County Community School District Douds Center and Van Buren County Community School District Harmony Center, have shown more mixed results, with some grade levels exceeding state averages and others falling behind.
The district's spending per student, ranging from $13,358 to $14,521, is above the state average, and the student-teacher ratios, from 11.7 to 13.3, are relatively low compared to state averages. These factors may contribute to the academic performance of the schools, particularly the standout middle and high school. However, the district faces challenges in addressing the performance gap between the high school and the elementary schools, as well as the high rates of economically disadvantaged students across the district.
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