Melcher-Dallas High School

As a very small senior high in Melcher, Iowa, Melcher-Dallas High School caters to 151 students from grades 7 through 12, operated by Melcher-Dallas Comm School District. Compared to the state average of about 468 students per school, that is 68% below typical.

Across the 2 schools in Melcher-Dallas Comm School District (308 students total), Melcher-Dallas High School accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

On demographics, Melcher-Dallas High School shows that 97% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority. Other groups include 3% Black. That mix tracks the wider county fairly closely.

On the resource side, The school lists 14 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 10.4:1. The state averages around 17.3:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Around 30% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Melcher-Dallas High School is in the bottom 10% of Iowa public schools. The BeatsExpectations model predicts schools with this FRL share to land around 76.7%; Melcher-Dallas High School posts 60.7%, -16.0 points below that line.

In the surrounding community, census data for Marion County shows the typical household earns roughly $78,680 per year, about 32% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 6%. In all, Marion County runs 17 public schools (combined enrollment of about 5,571 students), of which Melcher-Dallas High School is one.

The closest other public school is Melcher-Dallas Elementary, roughly 0.9 miles away. 5 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a ten-mile radius, suggesting a relatively low-density school footprint. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Melcher-Dallas High School at 8th of 8; the average score across the group is 69.7%.

The school occupies a small-town site.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count grew 82%: 83 students in 2018 compared to 151 in 2025. Class-load math has widened: from 6.7:1 in 2018 to 10.4:1 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, the feed for Melcher-Dallas High School typically covers open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.