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)
190792000395	81	Colo-NESCO Middle/High School	Public	5-12	919 West St	Colo	50056	Story County	Colo-NESCO Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(641) 377-2282	232	22	10.5	37.5%	211 (90.9%)	1 (0.4%)	14 (6.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (2.6%)	$15,098			$523			$14,575	71.8	58.5	146	65
190735000340	82	Clarinda High School	Public	7-12	100 N. Cardinal Drive	Clarinda	51632	Page County	Clarinda Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 542-5167	484	35	13.9	37.8%	440 (90.9%)	3 (0.6%)	19 (3.9%)	4 (0.8%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (3.5%)	$14,767			$357			$14,410	71.7	64.5	111	29
192109001266	83	Northeast Middle-High School	Public	6-12	3690 Hwy.136	Goose Lake	52750	Clinton County	Northeast Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(563) 577-2249	470	33	14	29.6%	439 (93.4%)	2 (0.4%)	16 (3.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (2.8%)	$13,737			$240			$13,498	71.5	72.8	70	13
191212000745	84	Fremont-Mills Middle And Senior High School	Public	7-12	1114 US Hwy 275	Tabor	51653	Fremont County	Fremont-Mills Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 629-2325	208	15	14	33.2%	192 (92.3%)	3 (1.4%)	7 (3.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	5 (2.4%)	$16,858			$164			$16,694	71.4	70.5	81	3
190543000172	85	West Hancock High School	Public	9-12	420 9th Ave SW	Britt	50423	Hancock County	West Hancock Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(641) 843-3863	162	16	10.1	33.3%	129 (79.6%)	1 (0.6%)	28 (17.3%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.9%)	$16,943			$1,042			$15,901	71.3	84.4	23	62
192082001243	86	North-Linn Senior High School	Public	9-12	3033 Lynx Drive	Troy Mills	52344	Linn County	North Linn Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 224-3291	166	15	10.8	24.1%	163 (98.2%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.2%)	$13,474			$183			$13,291	71.1	68.6	93	7
192691001582	87	Spencer High School	Public	9-12	800 E 3rd St	Spencer	51301	Clay County	Spencer Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 262-1700	712	41	17.4	40.0%	625 (87.8%)	11 (1.5%)	63 (8.8%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (1.3%)	$13,801			$242			$13,560	71	74.4	60	27
190444000118	88	BCLUW High School	Public	9-12	610 East Center Street	Conrad	50621	Grundy County	BCLUW Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(641) 366-2810	177	17	10.2	31.1%	164 (92.7%)	1 (0.6%)	6 (3.4%)	3 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.7%)	$15,194			$294			$14,900	71	65.3	107	19
191323000796	89	Griswold Middle/High School	Public	6-12	20 Madison St.	Griswold	51535	Cass County	Griswold Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 778-2154	200	19	10.7	31.0%	187 (93.5%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (4.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.0%)	$15,962			$309			$15,653	70.7	63.1	119	30
190486000142	90	Bettendorf High School	Public	9-12	3333 18th Street	Bettendorf	52722	Scott County	Bettendorf Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(563) 332-7001	1,482	99	15	30.9%	1,078 (72.7%)	113 (7.6%)	170 (11.5%)	35 (2.4%)	3 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	82 (5.5%)	$12,142			$250			$11,892	70.6	69.8	84	6

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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:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

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Virtual Schools: The Future of Online Education