The bulletin board for America's public schools. Parents, teachers, students, and staff. One community per school.
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DAVENPORT COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 190858000461

Central High School

1120 Main St, Davenport, IA 52803 · (563) 723-5400 · Scott County
GRADES 09–12HIGH12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL1,288 STUDENTS
Enrollment
1,288
High
DISTRICT 1,022 · STATE 468
Student : Teacher
15.4:1
84 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.5:1 · STATE 17.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
49%
634 students
DISTRICT 53% · STATE 41%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.

Enrollment by grade, 2024-25

GradeStudentsShare
Grade 931324%
Grade 1030023%
Grade 1134927%
Grade 1232625%
Student demographics
68%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 68% · STATE 48% · US 70%
White
60747%
DISTRICT 47% · STATE 70% · US 43%
Hispanic
21817%
DISTRICT 15% · STATE 14% · US 30%
Black
30023%
DISTRICT 23% · STATE 7% · US 15%
Asian
91%
DISTRICT 2% · STATE 2% · US 6%
Two+
14912%
DISTRICT 12% · STATE 5% · US 5%
Native American
20%
DISTRICT 0% · STATE 0% · US 1%
Pacific Islander
10%
DISTRICT 0% · STATE 1% · US 0%
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
Male
64850%
Female
63850%

Discussions

+ POST

Test scores

ISASP 2024-25 . % Proficient
English Language Arts
61.4%
IA avg 73.6% . +3.2pp since 2023
Math
49.0%
IA avg 70.9% . +8.2pp since 2023

What this means: On the ISASP, Iowa's statewide test, about 61 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 49 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Iowa schools, those numbers are about 74 and 71. Reading and writing scores are up about 3 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 8 points.

ISASP results by year

School yearEnglish Language ArtsMath
2024-2561.4%49.0%
2023-2458.2%40.8%
% Proficient, all students and all tested grades.
Source: ISASP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →

BeatsExpectations

Demographically-adjusted score · methodology
Tier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of IA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
51.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
67.3%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-16.2pp
below demographic expectation

What this means: About 51% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 67% typical for Iowa schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.

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 Central High School

Central High School's state test result (51.1% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.

SchoolStudentsLow-incomeProficient
Central High School this school1,28849.2%51.1%
North High School
Davenport
1,19051.9%47.5%
George Washington High School
Cedar Rapids
1,18254.7%60.2%
Iowa City High School
Iowa City
1,66642.0%66.8%
Roosevelt High School
Des Moines
2,05155.2%59.5%
West High School
Davenport
1,30454.4%38.6%
Matched among Iowa high 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 Central High School ranks

Among high schools
MeasureThis schoolIn IowaIn Scott County
State test proficiency
ranked highest first
51.1%#300 of 313#4 of 6
Math proficiency
ranked highest first
49.0%#299 of 314
▲ 6
#4 of 6
no change
Reading proficiency
ranked highest first
61.4%#291 of 314
▲ 7
#4 of 6
no change
Enrollment
ranked largest first
1,288#33 of 340#4 of 7
Students per teacher
ranked fewest first
15.4:1#173 of 259#3 of 7
Diversity index
ranked most diverse first
68.1%#12 of 260#2 of 7
Free and reduced lunch
ranked highest share first
49.2%#58 of 320#4 of 7
Enrollment change since 2017-18
ranked steepest decline first
-8.9%#64 of 125N/A
Ranked against other public high 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 2024-25
Enrollment
1,288
-298 (-19%) vs 2020
+36% since 1990-91, when it was 949
Student : Teacher
15.4:1
was 16.7:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Enrollment and staffing by year

School yearStudentsTeachers (FTE)Students per teacherFree and reduced lunch
2024-251,28883.515.4:149% (634)
2023-241,43188.516.2:144% (623)
2022-231,50590.416.7:147% (709)
2020-211,5869516.7:154% (856)
2017-181,414103.813.6:151% (723)
2015-161,3009913.1:151% (660)
2010-111,4209614.8:145% (633)
2000-011,4189514.9:131% (436)
1990-919496614.4:1N/A
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Central High School.

Since 2017-18: students down 9% (1,414 to 1,288); teachers down 20% (103.8 to 83.5).

About Central High School

Davenport, Iowa, is home to Central High School, a large high school. The school counts 1,288 students across grades 9 through 12. The school's enrollment is 175% above the 468 average for high schools in Iowa.

The Davenport Comm School District system has 27 schools and 12,812 students.

By race and ethnicity, the largest group at Central High School is White (47%). Other groups include 23% Black, 17% Hispanic, and 12% multiracial. The county population is about 79% White. By the diversity index, Central High School comes in at 68%.

Dividing enrollment by its 83.5 full-time-equivalent teachers gives a ratio of about 15.4:1. Among high schools in Iowa, the typical ratio is 17.3:1. Eligible students account for 49% of enrollment in the free or reduced-price lunch program. That rate is above the 38% average among public schools in Scott County.

The school's average proficiency rate on state tests, 51.1%, is 16.2 points below the 67.3% the model predicts from its free or reduced-price lunch share. That result is in the bottom 10% of Iowa schools.

Scott County has about 174,608 residents, and median household income is about $78,277, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 37% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 7%. Federal data list 53 public schools in Scott County, with a combined enrollment of about 26,100.

The nearest public school is Madison Elementary School, at about 0.5 miles. Central High School has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Central High School comes in 2nd of 7 nearby schools on average proficiency.

Federal data place Central High School in the City: Mid-size locale, which means it is inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.

Enrollment was 1,586 in 2020-21 and 1,288 in 2024-25, a decrease of 298 students. There were fewer students per teacher in 2024-25 (15.4:1) than in 2020-21 (16.7:1).

Topics for discussion here include school safety, transportation, and start times. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.

Scott County at a glance

View full county profile
Population
174,608
Census ACS
Median income
$78,277
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
37%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
53
26,100 students

Quick facts

School name
Central High School
District
Davenport Comm School District
Address
1120 Main St, Davenport, IA 52803
Phone
(563) 723-5400
County
Scott County
Level
High
Grade range
09–12
Total enrollment
1,288
Teachers (FTE)
84
Student–teacher ratio
15.4:1
Free and reduced lunch
634 (49%)
Locale
12-City: Mid-size
NCES ID
190858000461
Charter school
No
Virtual school
No

Related schools

Other schools in Davenport Comm School District
Other schools in Davenport
Other Central High schools

70 other US public schools in 32 states are named Central High. Central High School is the 22nd largest of the 71.

Nearby schools

Frequently asked questions

About Central High School
How large is Central High School?
Central High School enrolls approximately 1,288 students in grades 09-12.
Is Central High School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Central High School is a high school covering grades 09-12.
How many teachers does Central High School have?
Central High School employs 84 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 15.4:1.
What is the student diversity at Central High School?
Student demographics at Central High School are roughly 47% White, 17% Hispanic, 23% Black, 1% Asian, 12% Two or more.
What district is Central High School in?
Central High School is part of Davenport Comm School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.
+ Post