Best Public Schools in Anthon, IA

The city of Anthon, Iowa is home to two schools: MVAO Middle School and Anthon Elementary, both part of the Maple Valley-Anthon Oto Community School District. While the middle school has mixed performance, Anthon Elementary stands out as the stronger-performing school, ranking 219 out of 576 Iowa elementary schools and earning a 3-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Anthon Elementary particularly excels in 3rd grade, with 90.9% proficiency in both English Language Arts and Mathematics, significantly higher than the district and state averages. The school also outperforms the district and state in 3rd and 5th grade ELA and Mathematics. In contrast, MVAO Middle School has a more mixed performance, with 6th and 8th graders performing above the state average in ELA but 7th graders and all grades in Mathematics performing below the state average.

Both schools face challenges, including high chronic absenteeism rates of over 21% and relatively high free and reduced lunch rates, indicating a low-income student population. Additionally, the schools have different resource allocations, with Anthon Elementary spending less per student ($13,892) but maintaining a much lower student-teacher ratio of 7.7, compared to MVAO Middle School's higher spending ($10,940) and larger class sizes (13.5 student-teacher ratio). These factors suggest the district may need to re-evaluate its resource distribution to ensure equitable support for all students.