South Winneshiek Middle School

South Winneshiek Middle School is a public middle school located in Ossian, Iowa, serving grades 5-8 with a total enrollment of 130 students. The school is part of the South Winneshiek Community School District, which is ranked 73 out of 313 districts in Iowa and has a 4-star rating from SchoolDigger.

South Winneshiek Middle School has consistently strong test scores, with the majority of grades performing above the state average in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science on the ISASP assessments. For example, in the 2024-2025 school year, 87.2% of 8th-grade students were proficient or better in ELA, compared to the state average of 80.2%. However, the school has seen fluctuations in chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 9.6% to 23.4% over the past few years, which is an area the school may want to focus on to improve student attendance and engagement. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch has ranged from 25.58% to 33.08% over the past few years, which is lower than the state average.

When compared to nearby middle schools, such as Waukon Middle School and Decorah Middle School, South Winneshiek Middle School generally performs well on test scores, but lags behind in some areas. For example, Waukon Middle School and Decorah Middle School have higher overall test scores and state rankings. Additionally, South Winneshiek Middle School's statewide ranking has fluctuated significantly over the years, from a high of 69 out of 344 Iowa middle schools in 2024-2025 to a low of 212 out of 337 in 2021-2022, suggesting that the school's performance may be variable and influenced by factors that are not easily discernible from the data provided.