Emmetsburg High School

Emmetsburg High School, a compact high school in Emmetsburg, Iowa, overseen by Emmetsburg Comm School District, caters to 235 students, covering grades 9 through 12. By comparison, Iowa's public schools average about 468 students each, so Emmetsburg High School sits 50% leaner than that benchmark.

Within Emmetsburg Comm School District, which oversees 3 schools and 727 students, Emmetsburg High School is one campus in the system.

Demographically, Emmetsburg High School logs that nearly all students (86%) are White; the rest comes out to 5% Hispanic, 3% Asian, 3% multiracial.

On the income-and-resources front, Staff filings list 2 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 117.5:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 17.3:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. An estimated 37% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Emmetsburg High School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 73.2%, the actual is 74.6%, a residual of +1.4 points.

In the broader community, census data for Palo Alto County shows median household earnings sit near $72,781, 19% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 9% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Palo Alto County's 10 public schools (combined enrollment of about 1,472 students), Emmetsburg High School is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is Emmetsburg Middle School, roughly 0.0 miles away. 2 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Emmetsburg High School at 3rd of 9; the average score across the group is 68.1%.

The campus sits in a countryside setting.

Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Emmetsburg High School has ticked down 11%, going from 263 students in 2018 to 235 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 92% to 86% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio grew from 13.9:1 in 2018 to 117.5:1 today.

On allk12, members of the Emmetsburg High School community share and discuss open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.