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What do students at South Tama County High School actually talk about outside of class?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
421
High
DISTRICT 456 · STATE 468
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SOUTH TAMA COUNTY·NCES 192673001556
South Tama County High School
1715 Harding St, Tama, IA 52339 · (641) 484-4345 · Tama County
GRADES 09–12HIGH32-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL421 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 10% 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.
- 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
17.0:1
25 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.0:1 · STATE 17.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
56%
235 students
DISTRICT 60% · 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 | 114 | 27% |
| Grade 10 | 101 | 24% |
| Grade 11 | 111 | 26% |
| Grade 12 | 95 | 23% |
Student demographics
64%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 63% · 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 South Tama County. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
ISASP 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
65.3%
IA avg 73.6% . +6.6pp since 2023
Math
53.7%
IA avg 70.9% . +3.9pp since 2023
What this means: On the ISASP, Iowa's statewide test, about 65 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 54 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 7 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 4 points.
ISASP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 65.3% | 53.7% |
| 2023-24 | 58.7% | 49.8% |
% 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
55.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
64.0%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-8.7pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 55% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 64% 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 South Tama County High School
South Tama County High School's state test result (55.3% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Tama County High School this school | 421 | 55.8% | 55.3% |
| Clarke Community High School Osceola | 421 | 52.5% | 62.4% |
| Eagle Grove High School Eagle Grove | 329 | 54.4% | 53.6% |
| Clarion-Goldfield-Dows High School Clarion | 291 | 51.2% | 66.3% |
| West Sioux High School Hawarden | 242 | 51.2% | 67.2% |
| Belmond-Klemme Community Jr-Sr High School Belmond | 297 | 51.9% | 68.4% |
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 South Tama County High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 55.3% | #290 of 313 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 53.7% | #284 of 314 ▲ 11 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 65.3% | #277 of 314 ▲ 19 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 421 | #116 of 340 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.0:1 | #223 of 259 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 63.6% | #21 of 260 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 55.8% | #26 of 320 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -10.8% | #54 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
421
-63 (-13%) vs 2020
-8% since 1990-91, when it was 460
Student : Teacher
17.0:1
was 14.2:1
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 | 421 | 24.8 | 17.0:1 | 56% (235) |
| 2023-24 | 448 | 27.1 | 16.6:1 | 57% (255) |
| 2022-23 | 472 | 30.2 | 15.6:1 | 54% (254) |
| 2020-21 | 484 | 34 | 14.2:1 | 57% (276) |
| 2017-18 | 472 | 31.1 | 15.2:1 | 49% (231) |
| 2015-16 | 445 | 32 | 13.9:1 | 54% (242) |
| 2010-11 | 443 | 36 | 12.3:1 | 35% (155) |
| 2000-01 | 510 | 35 | 14.6:1 | 27% (136) |
| 1990-91 | 460 | 32 | 14.4:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for South Tama County High School.
Since 2017-18: students down 11% (472 to 421); teachers down 20% (31.1 to 24.8).
About South Tama County High School
South Tama County High School serves students in Tama, Iowa, as a mid-sized high school. The school covers grades 9 through 12 and reported 421 students in 2024-25.
South Tama County High School is run by South Tama County, whose 3 schools enroll 1,368 students.
No group is above 50% at South Tama County High School; the largest is White, at 47%. It is also 37% Hispanic, 8% Native American, and 6% multiracial. Tama County's residents are about 80% White, 33 points above the school's share. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, South Tama County High School scores 64%.
The school had 24.8 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25. Its student-to-teacher ratio is 17.0:1. That is in line with the 17.3:1 average for high schools in Iowa. The school reported 56% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch in 2024-25. The figure for public schools in Tama County is close, at 56%.
South Tama County High School holds a D allk12 Grade, placing it above 10% of Iowa public high schools.
The allk12 BeatsExpectations score for South Tama County High School is -8.7 points: 55.3% actual, 64.0% predicted.
Looking at the county, Tama County, the median household earns about $70,781 a year, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 21%, and roughly 11% of residents are in poverty. Tama County has 10 public schools with about 2,770 students, including South Tama County High School.
South Tama County Elementary School is about 0.2 miles away, making it the nearest public school. There are 3 more public schools inside five miles. South Tama County High School's average proficiency of 55.3% compares with 67.5% for its nearest scored neighbors.
The school's locale code, Town: Distant, means it is in a town some distance from an urbanized area.
By 2024-25, enrollment had dropped to 421, from 484 in 2020-21. The ratio of students to teachers went from 14.2:1 to 17.0:1 over the same years.
On allk12, people connected to South Tama County High School can post about athletics, class schedules, and weather closures. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Tama County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
16,868
Census ACS
Median income
$70,781
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
21%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
10
2,770 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in South Tama County
- South Tama County Elementary SchoolElementary · 534 students
- South Tama County Middle SchoolMiddle · 413 students
Other schools in Tama
- South Tama County Elementary SchoolElementary · 534 students
- Meskwaki Settlement SchoolCombined · 294 students
Nearby schools
- South Tama County Elementary School0.2 mi · 534
- South Tama County Middle School1.3 mi · 413
- Meskwaki Settlement School3.5 mi · 294
- GMG Secondary School9.4 mi · 205
- East Marshall Senior High School10.3 mi · 217
- East Marshall Middle School12.4 mi · 157
Frequently asked questions
About South Tama County High SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at South Tama County High School?
South Tama County High School enrolls approximately 421 students in grades 09-12.
What grades does South Tama County High School serve?
South Tama County High School serves grades 09-12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at South Tama County High School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at South Tama County High School is approximately 17.0:1 (25 FTE teachers).
How diverse is South Tama County High School?
South Tama County High School reports a student body of 47% White, 37% Hispanic, 1% Black, 1% Asian, 6% Two or more.
Is South Tama County High School public or private?
South Tama County High School is a public K-12 school, overseen by South Tama County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.