Enrollment
314
Middle
DISTRICT 360 · STATE 400
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CARDINAL COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 190624002246
Cardinal Junior High
4045 Ashland Road, Eldon, IA 52554 · (641) 652-7531 · Wapello County
GRADES 05–08MIDDLE42-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL314 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
17.8:1
18 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.5:1 · STATE 15.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
61%
191 students
DISTRICT 60% · STATE 41%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 5 | 80 | 25% |
| Grade 6 | 78 | 25% |
| Grade 7 | 76 | 24% |
| Grade 8 | 80 | 25% |
Student demographics
25%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 21% · STATE 48% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Cardinal Junior High→Cardinal High School
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Cardinal Comm School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
ISASP 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
76.8%
IA avg 73.6% . +0.4pp since 2023
Math
70.5%
IA avg 70.9% . +4.1pp since 2023
What this means: On the ISASP, Iowa's statewide test, about 77 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 71 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Iowa schools, those numbers are about 74 and 71. Reading and writing scores have held steady since 2023, while math scores are up about 4 points.
ISASP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 76.8% | 70.5% |
| 2023-24 | 76.4% | 66.4% |
% Proficient, all students and all tested grades.
Source: ISASP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
70.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
61.5%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+9.4pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 71% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 62% typical for Iowa schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Iowa's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Cardinal Junior High
Cardinal Junior High's state test result (70.9% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cardinal Junior High this school | 314 | 60.8% | 70.9% |
| Howar Middle School Centerville | 298 | 56.0% | 65.5% |
| Maquoketa Middle School Maquoketa | 315 | 55.9% | 58.1% |
| Creston Middle School Creston | 259 | 54.4% | 73.2% |
| Chariton Middle School Chariton | 284 | 53.9% | 69.8% |
| Oelwein Middle School Oelwein | 350 | 52.6% | 53.9% |
Matched among Iowa middle schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Cardinal Junior High ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 70.9% | #155 of 224 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 70.5% | #155 of 224 ▲ 11 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 76.8% | #123 of 224 ▲ 17 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 314 | #139 of 246 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.8:1 | #169 of 180 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 24.7% | #119 of 180 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 60.8% | #28 of 237 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +28.7% | #13 of 61 |
Ranked against other public middle schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
314
+41 (+15%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
17.8:1
was 21.0:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 314 | 17.6 | 17.8:1 | 61% (191) |
| 2023-24 | 301 | 18.6 | 16.2:1 | 53% (160) |
| 2022-23 | 284 | 18.6 | 15.3:1 | 51% (145) |
| 2020-21 | 273 | 13 | 21.0:1 | 57% (156) |
| 2017-18 | 244 | 12.6 | 19.3:1 | 55% (134) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Cardinal Junior High.
Since 2017-18: students up 29% (244 to 314); teachers up 40% (12.6 to 17.6).
About Cardinal Junior High
Cardinal Junior High is a small middle-grades school with its address in Eldon, Iowa. The school serves grades 5 through 8. Enrollment is 314 students. By comparison, middle schools in Iowa enroll about 400 students on average.
The district for Cardinal Junior High is Cardinal Comm School District, with 3 schools and 1,079 students.
White students are 86% of those enrolled at Cardinal Junior High. Beyond that, enrollment is 8% Hispanic and 4% multiracial. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 25, compared with 70 nationally.
A staff of 17.6 full-time-equivalent teachers puts the student-to-teacher ratio at 17.8:1. The average for middle schools in Iowa, 15.2:1, is lower. The share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch is 61%. Among public schools in Wapello County, the average eligibility rate is 48%.
When test results are adjusted for free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, Cardinal Junior High is 9.4 points above its prediction. Actual: 70.9%. Predicted: 61.5%.
The school is in Wapello County, where the median household earns about $64,766 a year, about 20% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 12% of residents are in poverty. Across Wapello County, 18 public schools serve about 6,892 students.
A public school less than a tenth of a mile away, Cardinal High School, is the closest to Cardinal Junior High. There are 2 more public schools inside five miles. Ranking the closest schools with test data puts Cardinal Junior High at 1st of 7.
Its NCES locale code is Rural: Distant: the school is in rural territory some distance from an urban area.
In 2024-25, the school enrolled 314, up from 273 in 2020-21. The number of students per teacher dropped from 21.0 to 17.8 over 4 years.
Use the discussion section to ask about homework, tutoring, and testing dates at Cardinal Junior High. You can also rate the school on this page.
Wapello County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
35,362
Census ACS
Median income
$64,766
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
20%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
12%
Below federal line
Schools in county
18
6,892 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Cardinal Comm School District
- Cardinal ElementaryElementary · 495 students
- Cardinal High SchoolHigh · 270 students
Other schools in Eldon
- Cardinal ElementaryElementary · 495 students
- Cardinal High SchoolHigh · 270 students
Nearby schools
- Cardinal High School0.0 mi · 270
- Cardinal Elementary0.2 mi · 495
- Wilson Elementary School9.2 mi · 335
- Ottumwa High School9.5 mi · 910
- Douma Elementary School10.2 mi · 327
- Fahrney Elementary10.2 mi · 490
Frequently asked questions
About Cardinal Junior HighWhat is the total enrollment at Cardinal Junior High?
Cardinal Junior High enrolls approximately 314 students in grades 05-08.
What age range does Cardinal Junior High serve?
Cardinal Junior High serves students from grade 05 through grade 08.
How many students per teacher at Cardinal Junior High?
Approximately 17.8:1 students per teacher at Cardinal Junior High.
What is the student diversity at Cardinal Junior High?
Student demographics at Cardinal Junior High are roughly 86% White, 8% Hispanic, 1% Black, 4% Two or more.
What district is Cardinal Junior High in?
Cardinal Junior High is part of Cardinal Comm School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.