Best High Schools in Iowa

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Find the best Iowa high schools with SchoolDigger.com! Focused on test scores for accurate rankings, our user-friendly site simplifies your search. Empower your decisions by exploring top-rated schools, only on SchoolDigger.com - the ultimate guide to K-12 schools!

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish Iowa test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the ISASP test scores by the Iowa Department of Education. The most recent update was on Wednesday, September 18, 2024.

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School															Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)							Ranking (2024 vs 2023)
ID	Rank (of 338)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Average Standard Score (2024)	Average Standard Score (2023)	Rank (2023)	Rank Change from 2023	SchoolDigger Rating (2024)
190348000046	201	Alta-Aurelia High School	Public	9-12	1009 South Main Street	Alta	51002	Buena Vista County	Alta-Aurelia Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 200-1331	199	18	11	39.7%	161 (80.9%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (14.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (2.5%)	4 (2.0%)	$16,446			$128			$16,318	48.7	52.5	176	25
192019001197	202	Nashua-Plainfield Junior-Senior High School	Public	6-12	612 Greeley St	Nashua	50658	Chickasaw County	Nashua-Plainfield Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(641) 435-4166	308	24	12.6	29.2%	292 (94.8%)	5 (1.6%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (2.9%)	$15,197			$401			$14,797	48.6	56.7	158	44
190006000179	203	GMG Secondary School	Public	7-12	306 Park Street	Garwin	50632	Tama County	GMG Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(641) 499-2005	210	20	10.5	43.8%	186 (88.6%)	8 (3.8%)	7 (3.3%)	4 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (2.4%)	$14,599			$177			$14,421	48.5	54.5	164	39
192700001585	204	Spirit Lake High School	Public	9-12	2701 Hill Ave	Spirit Lake	51360	Dickinson County	Spirit Lake Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 336-3707	396	25	16	21.5%	350 (88.4%)	5 (1.3%)	18 (4.5%)	5 (1.3%)	3 (0.8%)	1 (0.3%)	14 (3.5%)	$14,475			$248			$14,227	48.5	59.2	137	67
192100001258	205	North Tama High School	Public	7-12	605 Walnut	Traer	50675	Tama County	North Tama County Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 478-2265	198	20	10	40.4%	176 (88.9%)	4 (2.0%)	9 (4.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (4.5%)	$15,071			$555			$14,517	48.4	40.3	229	24
192025001202	206	Nevada High School	Public	9-12	1001 15th St	Nevada	50201	Story County	Nevada Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(515) 382-3521	503	31	16.1	34.8%	409 (81.3%)	7 (1.4%)	48 (9.5%)	6 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (6.2%)	$17,734			$550			$17,184	48.1	45.8	207	1
190855000455	207	Danville Junior-Senior High School	Public	7-12	419 South Main Street	Danville	52623	Des Moines County	Danville Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 392-4222	305	20	15	37.7%	274 (89.8%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (2.3%)	5 (1.6%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (5.6%)	$12,852			$127			$12,724	48	65.9	106	101
192400001397	208	Red Oak Junior/Senior High School	Public	7-12	2011 N 8th St	Red Oak	51566	Montgomery County	Red Oak Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 623-6610	446	30	14.9	52.9%	392 (87.9%)	0 (0.0%)	46 (10.3%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.6%)	$14,722			$215			$14,507	48	39.3	231	23
190004000117	209	East Marshall Senior High School	Public	9-12	201 N Franklin	Le Grand	50142	Marshall County	East Marshall Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(641) 479-2785	235	19	12.5	33.2%	204 (86.8%)	3 (1.3%)	17 (7.2%)	1 (0.4%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (3.4%)	$15,810			$216			$15,593	47.8	50.3	187	22
192316001369	210	Pleasantville High School	Public	9-12	415 Jones St	Pleasantville	50225	Marion County	Pleasantville Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(515) 848-0541	245	18	13.7	32.7%	222 (90.6%)	4 (1.6%)	12 (4.9%)	2 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.6%)	$19,905			$192			$19,713	47.6	62.5	123	87

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About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on ISASP English Language Arts, ISASP Mathematics, ISASP Science test scores released by the Iowa Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on September 18, 2024, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the Iowa Department of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the Iowa Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

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Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences