Enrollment
165
Middle
DISTRICT 210 · STATE 400
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·HARTLEY-MELVIN-SANBORN COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 191366002065
Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Middle School
509 Main St., Sanborn, IA 51248 · (712) 930-3281 · O'Brien County
GRADES 05–08MIDDLE42-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL165 STUDENTS
B+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 66% of Iowa public middle schools
- B-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Iowa public middle schools
Student : Teacher
12.7:1
13 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.0:1 · STATE 15.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
50%
83 students
DISTRICT 50% · 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 | 45 | 27% |
| Grade 6 | 46 | 28% |
| Grade 7 | 24 | 15% |
| Grade 8 | 50 | 30% |
Student demographics
32%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 33% · 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
Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Middle School→Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn High School
Based on grade levels within Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Comm School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
QUIET COMMUNITY
Be the first to start a discussion at Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Middle School.
START A DISCUSSIONTest scores
ISASP 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
80.8%
IA avg 73.6% . -2.6pp since 2023
Math
69.2%
IA avg 70.9% . -5.8pp since 2023
What this means: On the ISASP, Iowa's statewide test, about 81 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 69 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Iowa schools, those numbers are about 74 and 71. Reading and writing scores are down about 3 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 6 points.
ISASP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 80.8% | 69.2% |
| 2023-24 | 83.4% | 75.0% |
% 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
75.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
66.8%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+8.9pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 76% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 67% 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 Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Middle School
Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Middle School's state test result (75.7% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Middle School this school | 165 | 50.3% | 75.7% |
| Sioux Central Middle School Sioux Rapids | 155 | 48.4% | 77.1% |
| AGWSR Middle School Wellsburg | 131 | 48.1% | N/A |
| Nodaway Valley Middle School Fontanelle | 144 | 50.0% | 82.9% |
| Galva-Holstein Upper Elementary Galva | 105 | 43.8% | 75.7% |
| Wapello Junior High School Wapello | 102 | 45.1% | 71.0% |
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 Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 75.7% | #115 of 224 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 69.2% | #168 of 224 ▼ 53 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 80.8% | #86 of 224 ▼ 15 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 165 | #196 of 246 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 50.3% | #62 of 237 |
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
165
-22 (-12%) vs 2020
-43% since 2000-01, when it was 292
Student : Teacher
12.7:1
was 12.5:1
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 | 165 | 13 | 12.7:1 | 50% (83) |
| 2023-24 | 171 | 13 | 13.2:1 | 54% (93) |
| 2022-23 | 174 | 13 | 13.4:1 | 51% (88) |
| 2020-21 | 187 | 15 | 12.5:1 | 50% (94) |
| 2017-18 | 193 | 13 | 14.8:1 | 53% (102) |
| 2015-16 | 189 | 13 | 14.5:1 | 45% (85) |
| 2010-11 | 189 | 11 | 17.2:1 | 44% (83) |
| 2000-01 | 292 | 22 | 13.3:1 | 25% (72) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 15% (193 to 165); teachers unchanged (13 to 13).
About Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Middle School
As a low-enrollment middle-grades school, Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Middle School serves students in Sanborn, Iowa. Grades offered run from 5 through 8, with 165 students enrolled. The average among middle schools in Iowa is roughly 400 students; this school is 59% smaller than that.
Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Middle School reports to Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Comm School District, which has 3 schools and 629 students.
At Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Middle School, White students make up 81% of the student body. After that, the student body is 15% Hispanic. The chance that two students picked at random at Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Middle School belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 32%.
Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Middle School counts 13 full-time-equivalent teachers, about 12.7 students for each one. The 15.2:1 average for middle schools in Iowa is higher than this school's figure. About 50% of students at the school meet free or reduced-price lunch income limits. Public schools in O'Brien County average 40%.
Measured against Iowa public middle schools, Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Middle School receives a B+. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Middle School scores 75.7% on state tests, averaged across results. The predicted figure, based on its student poverty level, is 66.8%.
Census Bureau estimates for O'Brien County show that median household income is about $68,356, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 22% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 9%. Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Middle School is one of 9 public schools in O'Brien County, which together enroll about 2,377 students.
South O'Brien Elem School - Primghar Center is located about 6.8 miles from Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Middle School. Within ten miles are 7 other public schools. Of 8 schools in the immediate area with test results, Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Middle School ranks 6th on average proficiency.
The school's setting, by NCES definition, is Rural: Distant: in rural territory some distance from an urban area.
Between 2020-21 and 2024-25, the student count declined from 187 to 165.
To ask about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater, start a discussion on this page. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
O'Brien County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
14,126
Census ACS
Median income
$68,356
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
22%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
9
2,377 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Comm School District
- Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Elementary SchoolElementary · 261 students
- Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn High SchoolHigh · 203 students
Nearby schools
- South O'Brien Elem School - Primghar Center6.8 mi · 328
- Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn High School8.7 mi · 203
- Sheldon Middle School8.7 mi · 312
- Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Elementary School8.7 mi · 261
- Little Orabs Preschool8.9 mi · 43
- Sheldon High School9.0 mi · 356
Frequently asked questions
About Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Middle SchoolHow large is Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Middle School?
Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Middle School enrolls approximately 165 students in grades 05-08.
What grades does Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Middle School serve?
Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Middle School serves grades 05-08.
How many teachers does Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Middle School have?
Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Middle School employs 13 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 12.7:1.
What is the student diversity at Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Middle School?
Student demographics at Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Middle School are roughly 81% White, 15% Hispanic, 2% Black, 1% Two or more.
Is Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Middle School public or private?
Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Middle School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Comm School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.