Best Middle Schools in Iowa

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Find the best Iowa middle 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 337)	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)
190790001951	171	Collins-Maxwell Middle/High School	Public	6-12	400 Metcalf St.	Maxwell	50161	Story County	Collins-Maxwell Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(515) 387-1115	208	18	11.6	36.1%	186 (89.4%)	2 (1.0%)	13 (6.3%)	4 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.4%)	$17,207			$223			$16,984	55	31.2	259	88
191179000717	172	Forest City Middle School	Public	5-8	216 W School St	Forest City	50436	Winnebago County	Forest City Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(641) 585-4772	330	27	12.3	40.6%	268 (81.2%)	7 (2.1%)	36 (10.9%)	3 (0.9%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (4.5%)	$13,622			$262			$13,360	54.8	72.1	73	99
192415001410	173	Riceville High School	Public	6-12	912 Woodland Ave	Riceville	50466	Howard County	Riceville Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(641) 985-2288	195	16	12.5	44.1%	182 (93.3%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (5.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.0%)	$14,165			$482			$13,683	54.5	36.4	243	70
190891000509	174	Denison Middle School	Public	6-8	1201 North 16th Street	Denison	51442	Crawford County	Denison Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(712) 263-9393	502	31	15.9	66.5%	142 (28.3%)	20 (4.0%)	325 (64.7%)	12 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	$11,728			$298			$11,430	54.4	62.9	125	49
190393000093	175	Atlantic Middle School	Public	6-8	1100 Linn St	Atlantic	50022	Cass County	Atlantic Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 243-1330	329	22	14.9	40.4%	298 (90.6%)	1 (0.3%)	14 (4.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (4.3%)	2 (0.6%)	$13,274			$210			$13,065	54.3	58.1	158	17
191485000910	176	Iowa Valley Junior-Senior High School	Public	7-12	359 E Hilton St	Marengo	52301	Iowa County	Iowa Valley Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 642-3332	229	20	11.6	36.2%	205 (89.5%)	3 (1.3%)	17 (7.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.7%)	$14,626			$333			$14,293	54.3	63	124	52
191869001078	177	Vernon Middle School	Public	5-8	1350 4th Avenue	Marion	52302	Linn County	Marion Independent School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 377-9401	668	43	15.6	39.7%	548 (82.0%)	32 (4.8%)	38 (5.7%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	44 (6.6%)	$11,914			$388			$11,527	54.2	37.4	237	60
190654000244	178	Harding Middle School	Public	6-8	4801 Golf ST NE	Cedar Rapids	52405	Linn County	Cedar Rapids Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 558-2254	713	46	15.3	42.9%	472 (66.2%)	74 (10.4%)	66 (9.3%)	19 (2.7%)	3 (0.4%)	5 (0.7%)	73 (10.2%)	$14,559			$562			$13,997	53.8	60.6	140	38
190486000143	179	Bettendorf Middle School	Public	6-8	2030 Middle Road	Bettendorf	52722	Scott County	Bettendorf Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(563) 359-3686	987	71	13.8	32.1%	688 (69.7%)	88 (8.9%)	103 (10.4%)	21 (2.1%)	3 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	83 (8.4%)	$11,825			$219			$11,606	53.7	68.7	94	85
193180001850	180	Wilton Junior-Senior High School	Public	7-12	1000 Cypress St	Wilton	52778	Muscatine County	Wilton Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(563) 732-2629	427	31	13.8	25.8%	386 (90.4%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (7.3%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.9%)	$15,237			$237			$15,001	53.5	40.3	228	48

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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:

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide