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)
190633001989	181	Carroll Middle School	Public	5-8	3203 N. Grant Road	Carroll	51401	Carroll County	Carroll Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 792-8020	489	31	15.8	38.7%	415 (84.9%)	18 (3.7%)	35 (7.2%)	3 (0.6%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (3.3%)	$12,107			$303			$11,804	53.3	65.4	110	71
191104000683	182	Essex Junior-Senior High School	Public	6-12	111 Forbes St	Essex	51638	Page County	Essex Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 379-3115	97	9	11	48.5%	88 (90.7%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (7.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.1%)	$19,949			$371			$19,579	53.3	82.2	25	157
190000602255	183	North Fayette Valley Middle School	Public	5-8	23493 Canoe Rd	Elgin	52141	Fayette County	North Fayette Valley Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(563) 422-3851	237	17	13.8	40.5%	220 (92.8%)	3 (1.3%)	9 (3.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	4 (1.7%)	$15,606			$342			$15,265	53.2	63.4	116	67
192799000309	184	Tri-Center Middle School	Public	6-8	33980 310th St	Neola	51559	Pottawattamie County	Tri-Center Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 485-2211	162	7	23.3	23.5%	143 (88.3%)	2 (1.2%)	10 (6.2%)	5 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.2%)	$9,865			$219			$9,646	53.2	56.6	168	16
190483001987	185	Benton Community Middle School	Public	7-8	600 1st St	Van Horne	52346	Benton County	Benton Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(319) 228-8701	235	14	16.9	22.6%	215 (91.5%)	4 (1.7%)	8 (3.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (3.4%)	$9,661			$223			$9,438	53	50.4	189	4
191470000897	186	Northwest Junior High School	Public	7-8	1507 8th St	Coralville	52241	Johnson County	Iowa City Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 688-1060	730	54	13.4	42.7%	335 (45.9%)	204 (27.9%)	71 (9.7%)	73 (10.0%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	41 (5.6%)	$14,464			$430			$14,034	52.6	56.7	167	19
190004000121	187	East Marshall Middle School	Public	6-8	225 S Elm	Gilman	50106	Marshall County	East Marshall Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(641) 498-7483	165	11	14.4	36.4%	140 (84.8%)	1 (0.6%)	16 (9.7%)	1 (0.6%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (3.6%)	$11,474			$89			$11,385	52.6	63.1	121	66
192976001700	188	Wapsie Valley High School	Public	7-12	RR 2 2535 Viking Ave	Fairbank	50629	Buchanan County	Wapsie Valley Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 638-6711	304	22	13.7	18.1%	297 (97.7%)	3 (1.0%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.7%)	$13,502			$255			$13,248	52.4	48.4	198	10
193093001796	189	Stilwell Junior High School	Public	7-8	1601 Vine St	West Des Moines	50265	Polk County	West Des Moines Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(515) 633-6000	684	48	14.3	36.1%	449 (65.6%)	72 (10.5%)	91 (13.3%)	30 (4.4%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	39 (5.7%)	$15,102			$192			$14,909	52.1	56.8	166	23
191566000939	190	Keota High School	Public	7-12	507 N Ellis St	Keota	52248	Keokuk County	Keota Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(641) 636-3491	133	14	9.7	36.8%	124 (93.2%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (3.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (3.0%)	$15,277			$726			$14,550	51.9	15.5	299	109

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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