Hiawatha CUSD 426

Hiawatha CUSD 426 has two schools serving PreK through high school: Hiawatha Elementary School PreK-5 and Hiawatha Junior/Senior High School, with 427 students combined. The schools have similar enrollment and student–teacher ratios, but their results vary by subject and grade. In 2025–2026, both schools’ all-grades ELA and math results were below state results, even though each school led the other in a different subject.

The junior/senior high stood out in all-grades ELA, with 55% proficiency versus 51% at the elementary school, a 3-point lead; both were below the state’s 56%. The elementary school led in math, with 39% versus 36% at the junior/senior high, a 2-point lead; both were below the state’s 40%. Science was a bright spot in the grades reported: fifth-grade results were 58%, 10 points above the state, and eighth-grade results were 59%, 7 points above the state. Because the schools cover different grades, these schoolwide and science results are not all like-for-like comparisons. The junior/senior high also had higher chronic absenteeism—26%, compared with 11% at the elementary school—and its 83% graduation rate was below the state’s 90%.

Recent changes were strongest in high-school ELA: its proficiency rose 12 points from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, while the elementary school’s fell 2 points. SchoolDigger gave both schools and the district 2 stars for 2025–2026; its rank-history percentiles fell 13 points for the elementary school, to the 45th percentile, and rose 9 points for the junior/senior high, to the 43rd percentile. In 2024–2025, free/reduced lunch eligible students made up 52% at the elementary school and 47% at the junior/senior high. That year, student–teacher ratios were 11.9 and 11.0, respectively; these figures offer context but do not explain the differences in results.