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Best Public Schools in Palo Alto County, IA

Coming soon: We're expecting this year's test scores from the Iowa Department of Education any day now — new rankings will be posted the moment they're released!

Coming soon: This year's test scores are expected from the Iowa Department of Education any day now — new rankings will follow the moment they're released!

At a glance

Schools

1,472

Students

Districts

Top rankedRuthven-Ayrshire High School76^th of 340 Iowa high schools

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Biggest riser

Ruthven-Ayrshire High School up 64 spots statewide this year

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Smallest classes

Emmetsburg Middle School 7.2 students per teacher

SchoolDigger ratings

4★

3★

2★

1★

0★

1 school without a SchoolDigger rating (too few tested students)

See the top-ranked Iowa schools →

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				ISASP English Language Arts (2025)									ISASP Mathematics (2025)									ISASP Science (2025)			Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/reduced lunch (2024-25)	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	ISASP English Language Arts 3rd Grade	ISASP English Language Arts 4th Grade	ISASP English Language Arts 5th Grade	ISASP English Language Arts 6th Grade	ISASP English Language Arts 7th Grade	ISASP English Language Arts 8th Grade	ISASP English Language Arts 9th Grade	ISASP English Language Arts 10th Grade	ISASP English Language Arts 11th Grade	ISASP Mathematics 3rd Grade	ISASP Mathematics 4th Grade	ISASP Mathematics 5th Grade	ISASP Mathematics 6th Grade	ISASP Mathematics 7th Grade	ISASP Mathematics 8th Grade	ISASP Mathematics 9th Grade	ISASP Mathematics 10th Grade	ISASP Mathematics 11th Grade	ISASP Science 5th Grade	ISASP Science 8th Grade	ISASP Science 10th Grade	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Emmetsburg High School	Public	9-12	205 King St	Emmetsburg	50536	Palo Alto County	Emmetsburg Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 852-2966	235	2	117.5	37.4%	203 (86.4%)	3 (1.3%)	12 (5.1%)	8 (3.4%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (3.4%)	58.7	159^th of 340 public high schools	53.2%		66.8	108^th of 338 public high schools	68.0%	51							84.6	85.0	87.2							56.9	60.0	76.6			70.0	$14,069	$58	$14,010
Emmetsburg Middle School	Public	5-8	205 King Street	Emmetsburg	50536	Palo Alto County	Emmetsburg Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 852-2892	199	28	7.2	40.7%	178 (89.4%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (6.5%)	1 (0.5%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (3.0%)	70.4	79^th of 344 public middle schools	77.0%		69	95^th of 337 public middle schools	71.8%	16			64.3	74.5	83.3	91.8						57.1	72.5	83.3	85.7				66.7	87.8		$11,531	$229	$11,302
West Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-4	602 Call St	Emmetsburg	50536	Palo Alto County	Emmetsburg Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(712) 852-4485	293	7	39.5	43.3%	261 (89.1%)	4 (1.4%)	19 (6.5%)	2 (0.7%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (2.0%)	65.9	211^th of 576 public elementary schools	63.4%		66.1	190^th of 557 public elementary schools	65.9%	21	84.8	77.6								84.8	74.6											$12,570	$823	$11,748
Emmetsburg Virtual Academy	Public	7-12	205 King Street	Emmetsburg	50536	Palo Alto County	Emmetsburg Community School District	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(712) 852-3201	0			—	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()								(n/a)
Graettinger-Terril High School	Public	9-12	205 S Lincoln Ave	Graettinger	51342	Palo Alto County	Graettinger-Terril Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 859-3286	128	12	10.8	46.1%	121 (94.5%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (3.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.6%)	27	283^rd of 340 public high schools	16.8%		38	244^th of 338 public high schools	27.8%	39							69.0	70.8	59.3							51.7	66.7	48.1			58.3	$20,099	$233	$19,868
Graettinger-Terril Middle School	Public	6-8	205 S Lincoln Ave	Graettinger	51342	Palo Alto County	Graettinger-Terril Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 859-3286	48	6	8.1	45.8%	47 (97.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	24.9	289^th of 344 public middle schools	16.0%		34.1	257^th of 337 public middle schools	23.7%	32				60.0	25.0	78.9							60.0	41.7	57.9					78.9		$13,248	$220	$13,029
Ruthven-Ayrshire Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-6	1505 Washington St	Ruthven	51358	Palo Alto County	Ruthven-Ayrshire Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(712) 837-5211	89	9	9.8	49.4%	75 (84.3%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (9.0%)	2 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (4.5%)	9.1	533^rd of 576 public elementary schools	7.5%		13.6	495^th of 557 public elementary schools	11.1%	38			53.3									46.7							40.0			$16,696	$876	$15,821
Ruthven-Ayrshire High School	Public	7-12	1505 Washington St	Ruthven	51358	Palo Alto County	Ruthven-Ayrshire Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(712) 837-5212	58	4	14.0	37.9%	51 (87.9%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (8.6%)	1 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.7%)	72.5	76^th of 340 public high schools	77.6%		61.3	140^th of 338 public high schools	58.6%	64					63.6				91.7					45.5				66.7				$17,561	$361	$17,200
West Bend-Mallard Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	300 3rd Ave SW	West Bend	50562	Palo Alto County	West Bend-Mallard Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(515) 887-7821	173	10	17.6	35.8%	155 (89.6%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (9.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.2%)	54.4	296^th of 576 public elementary schools	48.6%		57.6	274^th of 557 public elementary schools	50.8%	22	73.3	73.9								76.7	73.9											$14,589	$617	$13,971
West Bend-Mallard Middle School	Public	6-8	300 3rd Ave. SW	West Bend	50597	Palo Alto County	West Bend-Mallard Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(515) 887-7831	132	4	33.0	41.7%	125 (94.7%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (3.8%)	1 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.8%)	43.5	236^th of 344 public middle schools	31.4%		49.4	199^th of 337 public middle schools	40.9%	37			76.7	60.0	75.0	90.3						76.7	70.0	66.7	77.4				86.7	67.7		$9,406	$271	$9,134
West Bend-Mallard High School	Public	9-12	300 3rd Ave SW	West Bend	50597	Palo Alto County	West Bend-Mallard Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(515) 887-7831	117	12	9.6	38.5%	107 (91.5%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (7.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.9%)	48.1	203^rd of 340 public high schools	40.3%		58.9	154^th of 338 public high schools	54.4%	49							64.3	85.3	73.9							42.9	64.7	60.9			85.3	$17,499	$297	$17,200

SchoolDigger rankings lists for Iowa:

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Iowa Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.