Pella High School

Pella High School is a secondary school of high-enrollment scale in Pella, Iowa, operated by Pella Comm School District, serveing 801 students in grades 9 through 12. Compared to the state average of about 468 students per school, that is 71% larger than typical.

Across the 6 schools in Pella Comm School District (2,462 students total), Pella High School accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

In terms of who attends, Pella High School reports that the student body is overwhelmingly White (86%). Other groups include 5% multiracial, 4% Hispanic, 2% Black, 2% Asian. That is noticeably less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 94%.

In terms of school funding signals, Staff filings list 49 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 16.3:1 students per teacher. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 17.3:1 average. Roughly 15% of students at Pella High School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. Set against Marion County (around 29%), the school's rate is south of typical.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Pella High School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 84.6%, the actual is 88.5%, a residual of +3.8 points.

In the broader community, community-level numbers for Marion County indicate median household income runs about $78,680, 32% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 6%. Pella High School is one of 17 public schools in Marion County (combined enrollment of about 5,571 students).

Pella Middle School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.3 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 5 other public schools cluster around Pella High School. On composite proficiency, Pella High School comes 2nd of 7 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 77.8%.

Geographically, the school is in a town-based area.

Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Pella High School has increased 20%, going from 669 students in 2018 to 801 in 2025. The White share of enrollment contracted from 90% to 86% over that span. Class-load math has widened: from 13.9:1 in 2018 to 16.3:1 in 2025.

On allk12, members of the Pella High School community share and discuss pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. Members of the school community can share what they know.