1
What clubs or activities at Ottumwa High School are worth joining?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
910
High
DISTRICT 602 · STATE 468
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·OTTUMWA COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 192211001322
Ottumwa High School
501 E 2nd, Ottumwa, IA 52501 · (641) 683-4444 · Wapello County
GRADES 10–12HIGH33-TOWNREGULAR SCHOOL910 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 6% of Iowa public high schools
- DTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- FBeats 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
16.6:1
55 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 19.7:1 · STATE 17.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
37%
340 students
DISTRICT 49% · 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 10 | 333 | 37% |
| Grade 11 | 302 | 33% |
| Grade 12 | 275 | 30% |
Student demographics
65%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 67% · 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
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Ottumwa Comm School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
ISASP 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
67.9%
IA avg 73.6% . +4.5pp since 2023
Math
56.1%
IA avg 70.9% . +3.2pp since 2023
What this means: On the ISASP, Iowa's statewide test, about 68 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 56 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 5 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 3 points.
ISASP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 67.9% | 56.1% |
| 2023-24 | 63.4% | 52.9% |
% Proficient, all students and all tested grades.
Source: ISASP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of IA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
58.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
73.3%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-14.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 59% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 73% 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 Ottumwa High School
Ottumwa High School's state test result (58.9% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ottumwa High School this school | 910 | 37.4% | 58.9% |
| Evans Junior High School Ottumwa | 684 | 44.3% | 57.4% |
| Muscatine High School Muscatine | 1,380 | 42.9% | 63.2% |
| Mason City High School Mason City | 891 | 41.2% | 58.6% |
| Iowa City High School Iowa City | 1,666 | 42.0% | 66.8% |
| East High School Sioux City | 1,495 | 51.6% | 64.1% |
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 Ottumwa High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 58.9% | #282 of 313 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 56.1% | #277 of 314 ▲ 9 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 67.9% | #262 of 314 ▲ 25 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 910 | #52 of 340 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.6:1 | #206 of 259 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 65.0% | #19 of 260 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 37.4% | #144 of 320 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -28.6% | #8 of 125 |
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
910
-381 (-30%) vs 2020
-33% since 1990-91, when it was 1,354
Student : Teacher
16.6:1
was 17.0:1
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 | 910 | 54.9 | 16.6:1 | 37% (340) |
| 2023-24 | 1,239 | 81.9 | 15.1:1 | 45% (557) |
| 2022-23 | 1,317 | 80.1 | 16.4:1 | 37% (489) |
| 2020-21 | 1,291 | 76 | 17.0:1 | 17% (225) |
| 2017-18 | 1,275 | 71.5 | 17.8:1 | 39% (491) |
| 2015-16 | 1,268 | 80 | 15.8:1 | 46% (582) |
| 2010-11 | 1,364 | 88 | 15.5:1 | 43% (581) |
| 2000-01 | 1,392 | 84 | 16.6:1 | 11% (150) |
| 1990-91 | 1,354 | 72 | 18.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Ottumwa High School.
Since 2017-18: students down 29% (1,275 to 910); teachers down 23% (71.5 to 54.9).
About Ottumwa High School
Ottumwa High School is a high-enrollment high school in Iowa, located in Ottumwa. The latest federal count shows 910 students in grades 10 through 12. The average for high schools in Iowa is about 468 students, so this school is 94% bigger than average.
Ottumwa High School is one school in a 12-school district, Ottumwa Comm School District, which enrolls 5,005 students.
Federal enrollment data show White students as the largest group at Ottumwa High School, at 48%. Other reported shares: 32% Hispanic, 10% Black, 6% Pacific Islander, and 2% Asian. Wapello County's residents are about 79% White, 31 points above the school's share. The school's diversity index is 65%, meaning two students picked at random have a 65% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
Ottumwa High School's 54.9 full-time-equivalent teachers put its ratio at 16.6:1. On average, high schools in Iowa have 17.3:1, compared with 16.6:1 here. The school's rate of free or reduced-price lunch eligibility is 37%. That is 11 points below the 48% average for public schools in Wapello County.
Measured against Iowa public high schools, Ottumwa High School receives a D. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
After accounting for student poverty, Ottumwa High School is in the bottom 10% of Iowa schools. Its average proficiency rate on state tests of 58.9% is 14.4 points below the 73.3% predicted for its lunch-eligibility share.
According to the American Community Survey, in Wapello County, the median household income is $64,766, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 20%, and roughly 12% of residents are in poverty. Ottumwa High School is one of 18 public schools in the county.
The closest public school, Wilson Elementary School, is about 0.3 miles from Ottumwa High School. There are at least 8 other public schools within five miles. By average proficiency, Ottumwa High School is 2nd among 6 schools close by.
On the NCES locale scale, the school is Town: Remote.
Enrollment declined 30% from its 2020-21 level of 1,291.
Discussions about Ottumwa High School may include school events, clubs, and volunteer needs. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Wapello County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
35,362
Census ACS
Median income
$64,766
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
20%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
12%
Below federal line
Schools in county
18
6,892 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Ottumwa Comm School District
- Evans Junior High SchoolHigh · 684 students
- Liberty Intermediate SchoolMiddle · 633 students
- Pickwick Early Childhood CenterElementary · 560 students
- Fahrney ElementaryElementary · 490 students
- Wilson Elementary SchoolElementary · 335 students
- Douma Elementary SchoolElementary · 327 students
Other schools in Ottumwa
- Evans Junior High SchoolHigh · 684 students
- Liberty Intermediate SchoolMiddle · 633 students
- Pickwick Early Childhood CenterElementary · 560 students
- Fahrney ElementaryElementary · 490 students
- Wilson Elementary SchoolElementary · 335 students
- Douma Elementary SchoolElementary · 327 students
Nearby schools
- Wilson Elementary School0.3 mi · 335
- Gateway High School1.1 mi · 213
- James Elementary School1.4 mi · 249
- Horace Mann Elementary School1.5 mi · 250
- Ottumwa Virtual Learning1.7 mi · 106
- Evans Junior High School1.7 mi · 684
Frequently asked questions
About Ottumwa High SchoolHow many students attend Ottumwa High School?
Ottumwa High School enrolls approximately 910 students in grades 10-12.
Is Ottumwa High School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Ottumwa High School is a high school covering grades 10-12.
How many students per teacher at Ottumwa High School?
Approximately 16.6:1 students per teacher at Ottumwa High School.
How diverse is Ottumwa High School?
Ottumwa High School reports a student body of 48% White, 32% Hispanic, 10% Black, 2% Asian, 1% Two or more.
What district is Ottumwa High School in?
Ottumwa High School is part of Ottumwa Comm School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.