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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at John F Kennedy High School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,648
High
DISTRICT 944 · STATE 468
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CEDAR RAPIDS COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 190654000250
John F Kennedy High School
4545 Wenig RD NE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52405 · (319) 558-2251 · Linn County
GRADES 09–12HIGH12-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL1,648 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 35% of Iowa public high schools
- C+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C+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 high schools
Student : Teacher
17.8:1
93 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.8:1 · STATE 17.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
36%
593 students
DISTRICT 61% · 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
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | 414 | 25% |
| Grade 10 | 395 | 24% |
| Grade 11 | 421 | 26% |
| Grade 12 | 418 | 25% |
Student demographics
47%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 64% · 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
Test scores
ISASP 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
73.9%
IA avg 73.6% . -0.8pp since 2023
Math
66.6%
IA avg 70.9% . -2.0pp since 2023
What this means: On the ISASP, Iowa's statewide test, about 74 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 67 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 down about 2 points.
ISASP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 73.9% | 66.6% |
| 2023-24 | 74.7% | 68.6% |
% 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
69.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
74.0%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-4.7pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 69% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 74% 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 John F Kennedy High School
John F Kennedy High School's state test result (69.3% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| John F Kennedy High School this school | 1,648 | 36.0% | 69.3% |
| Southeast Polk High School Pleasant Hill | 1,722 | 33.4% | 67.5% |
| Bettendorf High School Bettendorf | 1,433 | 29.4% | 77.3% |
| Prairie High School Cedar Rapids | 1,766 | 29.8% | 64.8% |
| Hempstead High School Dubuque | 1,499 | 42.0% | 64.1% |
| Mason City High School Mason City | 891 | 41.2% | 58.6% |
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 John F Kennedy High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa | In Linn County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 69.3% | #203 of 313 | #8 of 14 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 66.6% | #208 of 314 ▼ 29 | #9 of 14 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 73.9% | #217 of 314 ▼ 16 | #12 of 14 ▼ 4 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,648 | #12 of 340 | #3 of 15 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.8:1 | #239 of 259 | #11 of 12 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 46.6% | #60 of 260 | #5 of 12 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 36.0% | #161 of 320 | #6 of 15 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -8.2% | #68 of 125 | #4 of 6 |
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 2024-25Enrollment
1,648
-13 (-1%) vs 2020
+13% since 1990-91, when it was 1,456
Student : Teacher
17.8:1
was 18.3:1
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 | 1,648 | 92.6 | 17.8:1 | 36% (593) |
| 2023-24 | 1,719 | 95.1 | 18.1:1 | 31% (539) |
| 2022-23 | 1,714 | 96.5 | 17.8:1 | 31% (537) |
| 2020-21 | 1,661 | 91 | 18.3:1 | 33% (555) |
| 2017-18 | 1,795 | 93 | 19.3:1 | 32% (574) |
| 2015-16 | 1,761 | 99 | 17.8:1 | 29% (516) |
| 2010-11 | 1,760 | 103 | 17.1:1 | 21% (375) |
| 2000-01 | 1,578 | 93 | 17.0:1 | 9% (137) |
| 1990-91 | 1,456 | 91 | 16.0:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for John F Kennedy High School.
Since 2017-18: students down 8% (1,795 to 1,648); teachers unchanged (93 to 92.6).
About John F Kennedy High School
John F Kennedy High School is a large high school. Its address is in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It teaches 1,648 students in grades 9 through 12. High schools in Iowa have about 468 students on average; enrollment here is 252% higher.
Cedar Rapids Comm School District has a total of 35 schools and 15,494 students, John F Kennedy High School among them.
More than half of the students at John F Kennedy High School are White (71%). Beyond that, enrollment is 10% Black, 8% multiracial, 8% Hispanic, and 3% Asian. In Linn County overall, about 84% of residents are White. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, John F Kennedy High School scores 47%.
Its staff includes 92.6 full-time-equivalent teachers, for about 17.8 students per teacher. That is in line with the 17.3:1 average for high schools in Iowa. Roughly 36% of students at John F Kennedy High School can receive free or reduced-price lunch.
Among Iowa public high schools, John F Kennedy High School outscored 35%, which works out to a C+ on the allk12 Grade.
The model predicts 74.0% for a school in Iowa with John F Kennedy High School's free or reduced-price lunch share. John F Kennedy High School posts 69.3%.
Five-year Census Bureau estimates for Linn County show that median household income comes to about $77,649, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 35% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 6%. The county's public schools total 83, with about 36,480 students.
Pierce Elementary School is the nearest public school to John F Kennedy High School, about 0.2 miles away. Counting only straight-line distance, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Among its closest neighbors with test data, John F Kennedy High School is 4th of 9 on proficiency.
The federal government classifies John F Kennedy High School's location as City: Mid-size.
The school's size has been steady, with 1,661 students in 2020-21 and 1,648 in 2024-25.
This page is a place to ask questions and share updates about athletics, class schedules, and weather closures at John F Kennedy High School. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Linn County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
230,004
Census ACS
Median income
$77,649
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
35%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
83
36,480 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Cedar Rapids Comm School District
- Thomas Jefferson High SchoolHigh · 1,501 students
- George Washington High SchoolHigh · 1,182 students
- Harding Middle SchoolMiddle · 710 students
- Taft Middle SchoolMiddle · 593 students
- Viola Gibson Elementary SchoolElementary · 565 students
- West Willow Elementary SchoolElementary · 555 students
Other schools in Cedar Rapids
- Prairie High SchoolHigh · 1,766 students
- Thomas Jefferson High SchoolHigh · 1,501 students
- George Washington High SchoolHigh · 1,182 students
- Prairie PointMiddle · 868 students
- Prairie CreekMiddle · 846 students
- Harding Middle SchoolMiddle · 710 students
Other John F Kennedy High schools
5 other US public schools in 6 states are named John F Kennedy High. John F Kennedy High School is the largest of the 6.
- JOHN F KENNEDY HIGH SCHOOLBELLMORE, NY · 1,089 students
- John F Kennedy High SchoolSAN ANTONIO, TX · 998 students
- John F Kennedy High SchoolDENVER, CO · 681 students
- John F Kennedy High SchoolCleveland, OH · 652 students
- John F Kennedy High SchoolMt Angel, OR · 223 students
Nearby schools
- Pierce Elementary School0.2 mi · 334
- Hiawatha Elementary School0.9 mi · 334
- Wright Elementary School1.2 mi · 282
- Nixon Elementary School1.5 mi · 289
- Harding Middle School1.6 mi · 710
- Viola Gibson Elementary School2.0 mi · 565
Frequently asked questions
About John F Kennedy High SchoolHow many students attend John F Kennedy High School?
John F Kennedy High School enrolls approximately 1,648 students in grades 09-12.
Is John F Kennedy High School an elementary, middle, or high school?
John F Kennedy High School is a high school covering grades 09-12.
How many students per teacher at John F Kennedy High School?
Approximately 17.8:1 students per teacher at John F Kennedy High School.
What is the racial breakdown of students at John F Kennedy High School?
At John F Kennedy High School, the student body is approximately 71% White, 8% Hispanic, 10% Black, 3% Asian, 8% Two or more.
What district is John F Kennedy High School in?
John F Kennedy High School is part of Cedar Rapids Comm School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.