Altoona, IA schools
Altoona’s public schools score well above Iowa’s averages: 73% of students are proficient in reading against 67.8% statewide, and 93% of high schoolers graduate on time against 91.4%. Kids attend one of 4 elementary schools through grade 5, then Southeast Polk Middle School and Southeast Polk High School.
Grades, test scores, graduation, spending and every school, from U.S. Department of Education data.
Altoona’s School Grade: B
The public schools Altoona’s kids attend, from kindergarten through graduation, outperform 63% of Iowa’s districts on state tests and graduation. Among towns with similar incomes, they sit near the middle.
How the School Grade works
- Results, not inputs. Math and reading proficiency on Iowa’s state tests, each against the state average, plus the four-year graduation rate. Spending and class size are shown below but don’t count toward the grade. Tests: 2020–21; graduation: class of 2020.
- The whole path. A town’s grade follows its kids: every district that serves it, weighted by the number of students tested in each. Tests count 60% and graduation 40%.
- Graded within the state. Each state writes its own tests, so districts are lined up against the rest of Iowa only. A+ top 5%A next 10%A- next 10%B B+ to B−, next 30%C C+ to C−, next 30%D D and D−, bottom 15%
- Individual schools are graded the same way on their own test results, against every public school in Iowa with 25+ students. Private schools aren’t graded: they don’t take the state tests.
- What a grade can’t tell you. Test results track family income closely, so a high grade partly reflects who lives in a town. That’s why we also compare towns with similar incomes. Visit, ask other parents, and read neighbor reviews. It’s our own summary of U.S. Department of Education data, not an official rating.
Where Altoona kids go to school
Based on district boundaries from the U.S. Department of Education. Check with the district before you enroll.
Well above the state in reading
93% graduate on time
The share of students who started ninth grade together and earned a regular diploma within four years. #59 of 121 IA towns →
Two districts serve Altoona
Each district’s own page has its spending, test scores, enrollment and every school.
Colleges near Altoona
There’s no college in Altoona, but 8 colleges are within 30 miles. The closest is Grand View University in Des Moines, 6.6 miles away.
Straight-line distance from the center of Altoona. Degree-granting colleges with students on campus. Colleges marked › have their own page; the others are too small or don’t report enough to the Department of Education for one.
All 5 schools in Altoona
School data from the U.S. Department of Education (NCES). Ratings are from neighbors on TownTapestry.
Schools Altoona kids attend in other towns
Public schools in Altoona’s district that are located in Pleasant Hill.