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, August 20, 2025.

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School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)							Ranking (2025 vs 2024)					ID
Rank (of 344)	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 (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Rank (2024)	Rank Change from 2024	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	ID
321	McCombs Middle School	Public	6-8	201 SW County Line Rd	Des Moines	50320	Polk County	Des Moines Independent Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(515) 242-8447	670	40	16.8	83.3%	170 (25.4%)	153 (22.8%)	260 (38.8%)	50 (7.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	37 (5.5%)	$14,664			$1,066			$13,598	7.9	7.7	318	3		190897000557
322	Meredith Middle School	Public	6-8	4827 Madison Ave	Des Moines	50310	Polk County	Des Moines Independent Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(515) 242-7250	662	40	16.4	79.8%	153 (23.1%)	200 (30.2%)	146 (22.1%)	104 (15.7%)	5 (0.8%)	2 (0.3%)	50 (7.6%)	$14,971			$1,099			$13,873	7	4.2	323	1		190897000560
323	Edward Stone Middle School	Public	7-8	3000 Mason Rd.	Burlington	52601	Des Moines County	Burlington Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 752-4393	452	30	15	56.6%	283 (62.6%)	72 (15.9%)	50 (11.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	47 (10.4%)	$13,000			$568			$12,432	6.7	8.2	317	6		190579000186
324	Roosevelt Creative Corridor Business Academy	Public	6-8	300 13th ST NW	Cedar Rapids	52405	Linn County	Cedar Rapids Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 558-2153	484	34	14.2	71.1%	166 (34.3%)	196 (40.5%)	50 (10.3%)	7 (1.4%)	3 (0.6%)	12 (2.5%)	50 (10.3%)	$15,027			$360			$14,667	6.1	11.7	315	9		190654000258
325	George Washington Carver Academy	Public	6-8	1505 Logan Ave	Waterloo	50703	Black Hawk County	Waterloo Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(319) 433-2500	455	33	13.6	90.5%	54 (11.9%)	216 (47.5%)	91 (20.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	40 (8.8%)	53 (11.6%)	$14,466			$860			$13,605	5.7	3.8	324	1		193048001725
326	Evans Junior High School	Public, Alternative	8-9	812 Chester Avenue	Ottumwa	52501	Wapello County	Ottumwa Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(641) 684-6511	684	53	12.9	44.3%	345 (50.4%)	54 (7.9%)	175 (25.6%)	20 (2.9%)	5 (0.7%)	72 (10.5%)	12 (1.8%)	$12,177			$523			$11,654	4.3	14.5	309	17		192211001316
327	Brody Middle School	Public	6-8	2501 Park Ave	Des Moines	50321	Polk County	Des Moines Independent Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(515) 242-8443	641	39	16.4	71.3%	287 (44.8%)	82 (12.8%)	193 (30.1%)	23 (3.6%)	3 (0.5%)	4 (0.6%)	49 (7.6%)	$14,143			$628			$13,515	3.9	6.6	320	7		190897000517
328	Thomas Jefferson Middle School	Public	6-8	1105 Althauser Ave	Dubuque	52001	Dubuque County	Dubuque Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(563) 552-4700	402	44	9.1	67.4%	239 (59.5%)	74 (18.4%)	19 (4.7%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (8.7%)	33 (8.2%)	$15,467			$499			$14,968	3.8	2.8	328			190948000612
329	Central Middle School	Public	6-8	1350 Katoski Dr	Waterloo	50701	Black Hawk County	Waterloo Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(319) 433-2100	469	35	13.3	85.1%	122 (26.0%)	160 (34.1%)	70 (14.9%)	18 (3.8%)	2 (0.4%)	39 (8.3%)	58 (12.4%)	$16,022			$901			$15,120	3.7	2.3	330	1		193048002024
330	Storm Lake Middle School	Public	6-8	1811 Hyland Drive	Storm Lake	50588	Buena Vista County	Storm Lake Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(712) 732-8080	651	49	13.2	72.8%	80 (12.3%)	28 (4.3%)	370 (56.8%)	85 (13.1%)	1 (0.2%)	77 (11.8%)	10 (1.5%)	$12,357			$655			$11,701	3.3	3	327	3		192739001600

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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 August 20, 2025, 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:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education