Southwest Valley Middle School

Southwest Valley Middle School is an intermediate school of one-room-style scale in Villisca, Iowa, one of the schools within Villisca Comm School District, educateing 131 students in grades 6 through 8. Compared to the state average of about 400 students per school, that is 67% leaner than typical.

Southwest Valley Middle School is one of 2 schools operated by Villisca Comm School District, a district that serves 243 students overall.

Looking at the student body, Southwest Valley Middle School records that 97% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Staff filings list 11 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 12.3:1 students per teacher. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 15.2:1, putting Southwest Valley Middle School tighter than the state norm the norm. Roughly 47% of students at Southwest Valley Middle School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Southwest Valley Middle School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 68.7%, the actual is 74.9%, a residual of +6.2 points.

Across the wider county, the surrounding county (Montgomery County) logs that the typical household earns roughly $63,666 per year, roughly 20% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Montgomery County's 7 public schools (combined enrollment of about 1,473 students), Southwest Valley Middle School is one campus in the mix.

Sylvia Enarson Elementary School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.4 miles from this campus. Within ten miles, there are 3 other public schools, a sparser pattern than typical urban areas. On composite proficiency, Southwest Valley Middle School comes 4th of 9 in the immediate cluster, above the nearby-schools average of 70.3%.

The campus sits in an outlying setting.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count decreased 11%: 147 students in 2018 compared to 131 in 2025.

On this page, the feed for Southwest Valley Middle School typically covers fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.