Summary:
The city of Van Meter, Iowa is home to three exceptional public schools that serve students from elementary through high school: Van Meter Elementary School, Van Meter High School, and Van Meter Middle School. These schools are part of the highly-ranked Van Meter Community School District, which is among the top 3 districts in the state of Iowa.
The Van Meter schools demonstrate exceptional academic performance, with students consistently scoring 20-30 percentage points above the state averages on standardized tests. All three schools are ranked in the top 5-11% of their respective school types in Iowa and have earned 5-star ratings from SchoolDigger. Graduation rates at Van Meter High School are strong at 88.3%, and the schools have relatively low rates of free/reduced lunch recipients, indicating a high socioeconomic status of the student population.
While the Van Meter schools excel in many areas, there are a few areas that the district may want to investigate further. All three schools have a high chronic absenteeism rate of 21.6%, which is an area of concern. Additionally, there is a notable disparity in per-student spending between the elementary/high school ($11,667-$14,547) and the middle school ($7,390), which warrants further exploration.
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