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
271	Red Oak Junior/Senior High School	Public	7-12	2011 N 8th St	Red Oak	51566	Montgomery County	Red Oak Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 623-6610	420	30	13.7	48.8%	364 (86.7%)	0 (0.0%)	44 (10.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (2.9%)	$14,722			$215			$14,507	30.5	28.2	272	1		192400001397
272	Central City High School	Public	6-12	400 Barber Street	Central City	52214	Linn County	Central City Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 438-6182	200	20	9.9	37.0%	184 (92.0%)	6 (3.0%)	4 (2.0%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (2.5%)	$15,375			$264			$15,111	30.4	23.2	287	15		190678000285
273	ExiraElk Horn-Kimballton High School	Public	6-12	4114 Madison St	Elk Horn	51531	Shelby County	Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 764-4616	184	18	10.1	39.7%	172 (93.5%)	1 (0.5%)	7 (3.8%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.6%)	$15,108			$422			$14,686	30.3	38.2	243	30		191125000674
274	CAM Junior/Senior High School	Public	7-12	1000 Victory Park Rd	Anita	50020	Cass County	CAM Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 762-3231	188	18	10.3	39.4%	176 (93.6%)	4 (2.1%)	3 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.6%)	2 (1.1%)	$14,388			$139			$14,250	30.1	43.5	220	54		190594000070
275	WACO High School	Public	7-12	706 N Pearl	Wayland	52654	Henry County	Waco Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 256-6200	241	22	10.9	40.7%	215 (89.2%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (7.1%)	3 (1.2%)	2 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.7%)	$15,055			$394			$14,661	29.6	39	237	38		192949001684
276	Durant Junior/Senior High School	Public	7-12	408 7th St	Durant	52747	Cedar County	Durant Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(563) 785-4431	340	25	13.5	26.2%	311 (91.5%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (3.8%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (4.1%)	$12,873			$107			$12,768	28.7	48.8	204	72		190960000630
277	Washington Middle School	Public	6-8	313 S. 4th Ave.	Washington	52353	Washington County	Washington Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 653-5414	347	32	10.6	42.9%	247 (71.2%)	6 (1.7%)	77 (22.2%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (4.3%)	$13,172			$690			$12,482	28.2	23.4	286	9		193024001705
278	Murray Junior/Senior High	Public	6-12	216 Sherman	Murray	50174	Clarke County	Murray Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(641) 447-2517	145	11	13.3	38.6%	133 (91.7%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (6.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.4%)	$13,731			$186			$13,545	28.2	28.1	273	5		192010001181
279	Gerald W Kirn Middle School	Public	6-8	100 North Ave	Council Bluffs	51503	Pottawattamie County	Council Bluffs Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 328-6454	913	59	15.5	48.5%	684 (74.9%)	40 (4.4%)	135 (14.8%)	9 (1.0%)	7 (0.8%)	4 (0.4%)	34 (3.7%)	$17,547			$654			$16,893	27.8	30.3	266	13		190822000419
280	West Liberty Middle School	Public	5-8	203 E. 7th St	West Liberty	52776	Muscatine County	West Liberty Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 627-2118	367	26	14	52.0%	137 (37.3%)	3 (0.8%)	217 (59.1%)	4 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.6%)	$13,387			$274			$13,113	27.6	12.4	313	33		193099001804

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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:

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

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Virtual Schools: The Future of Online Education