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)
190897000535	331	Goodrell Middle School	Public	6-8	3300 E. 29th Street	Des Moines	50317	Polk County	Des Moines Independent Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(515) 242-8444	523	32	16.2	84.5%	176 (33.7%)	99 (18.9%)	178 (34.0%)	39 (7.5%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (5.5%)	$15,696			$1,024			$14,672	1.8	1.6	326	5
190897000545	332	Hoyt Middle School	Public	6-8	2700 E 42nd St	Des Moines	50317	Polk County	Des Moines Independent Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(515) 242-8446	486	29	16.6	79.8%	226 (46.5%)	81 (16.7%)	135 (27.8%)	14 (2.9%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	27 (5.6%)	$14,771			$931			$13,840	1.3	1.3	329	3
190897000584	333	Weeks Middle School	Public	6-8	901 East Park Avenue	Des Moines	50315	Polk County	Des Moines Independent Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(515) 242-8449	684	39	17.5	85.7%	135 (19.7%)	121 (17.7%)	278 (40.6%)	102 (14.9%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (6.6%)	$14,586			$1,091			$13,495	1.3	1.4	327	6
190897000540	334	Harding Middle School	Public	6-8	203 E Euclid Ave	Des Moines	50313	Polk County	Des Moines Independent Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(515) 242-8445	655	37	17.5	89.5%	109 (16.6%)	182 (27.8%)	226 (34.5%)	87 (13.3%)	6 (0.9%)	1 (0.2%)	44 (6.7%)	$13,719			$830			$12,889	0.7	1.3	328	6
190897000516	335	Hiatt Middle School	Public	6-8	1430 E. University Ave	Des Moines	50316	Polk County	Des Moines Independent Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(515) 242-7774	529	34	15.7	94.9%	67 (12.7%)	126 (23.8%)	282 (53.3%)	28 (5.3%)	5 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (4.0%)	$16,661			$1,079			$15,582	0.2	0.6	331	4
190858000464	336	Frank L Smart Intermediate	Public	7-8	1934 W 5th St	Davenport	52802	Scott County	Davenport Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(563) 445-5100	313	26	11.8	70.6%	117 (37.4%)	85 (27.2%)	62 (19.8%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	46 (14.7%)	$15,522			$1,202			$14,320	0.1	0.3	332	4
193048002126	337	Expo Alternative Learning Center	Public	6-12	1410 Independence Ave	Waterloo	50703	Black Hawk County	Waterloo Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(319) 433-1930	609	34	18.1	84.7%	229 (37.6%)	226 (37.1%)	61 (10.0%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.2%)	10 (1.6%)	80 (13.1%)	$14,570			$546			$14,023	0.1	0.2	333	4

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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:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide