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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at Storm Lake High School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
851
High
DISTRICT 451 · STATE 468
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·STORM LAKE COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 192739001601
Storm Lake High School
621 Tornado Dr, Storm Lake, IA 50588 · (712) 732-8065 · Buena Vista County
GRADES 09–12HIGH33-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL851 STUDENTS
F
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 4% of Iowa public high schools
- FTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- DBeats 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
19.3:1
44 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 19.3:1 · STATE 17.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
66%
558 students
DISTRICT 63% · 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 | 220 | 26% |
| Grade 10 | 217 | 25% |
| Grade 11 | 220 | 26% |
| Grade 12 | 194 | 23% |
Student demographics
63%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 64% · 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 Storm Lake Comm School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
ISASP 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
46.1%
IA avg 73.6% . -10.7pp since 2023
Math
45.4%
IA avg 70.9% . -0.4pp since 2023
What this means: On the ISASP, Iowa's statewide test, about 46 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 45 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Iowa schools, those numbers are about 74 and 71. Reading and writing scores are down about 11 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
ISASP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 46.1% | 45.4% |
| 2023-24 | 56.8% | 45.8% |
% 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
47.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
59.1%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-12.0pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 47% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 59% 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 Storm Lake High School
Storm Lake High School's state test result (47.1% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Storm Lake High School this school | 851 | 65.6% | 47.1% |
| Columbus Community High School Columbus Junction | 220 | 56.4% | 63.8% |
| Marshalltown High School Marshalltown | 1,629 | 72.6% | 54.6% |
| Lincoln High School Des Moines | 2,364 | 74.9% | 41.1% |
| North High School Sioux City | 1,529 | 63.2% | 54.4% |
| East High School Des Moines | 1,952 | 78.4% | 38.3% |
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 Storm Lake High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 47.1% | #307 of 313 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 45.4% | #305 of 314 ▼ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 46.1% | #311 of 314 ▼ 10 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 851 | #56 of 340 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 19.3:1 | #248 of 259 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 63.3% | #23 of 260 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 65.6% | #13 of 320 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +15.0% | #54 of 133 |
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
851
+15 (+2%) vs 2020
+80% since 1990-91, when it was 473
Student : Teacher
19.3:1
was 18.6:1
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 | 851 | 44.1 | 19.3:1 | 66% (558) |
| 2023-24 | 805 | 45 | 17.9:1 | 60% (482) |
| 2022-23 | 793 | 47 | 16.9:1 | 63% (496) |
| 2020-21 | 836 | 45 | 18.6:1 | 64% (539) |
| 2017-18 | 740 | 46.9 | 15.8:1 | 70% (519) |
| 2015-16 | 660 | 37 | 17.8:1 | 72% (474) |
| 2010-11 | 706 | 48 | 14.7:1 | 58% (411) |
| 2000-01 | 630 | 40 | 15.8:1 | 25% (159) |
| 1990-91 | 473 | 31 | 15.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Storm Lake High School.
Since 2017-18: students up 15% (740 to 851); teachers down 6% (46.9 to 44.1).
About Storm Lake High School
Storm Lake High School is classified as a high school. It is located in Storm Lake, Iowa. A federal count lists 851 students at the school, in grades 9 through 12. Average enrollment for high schools in Iowa is about 468, so this school runs 82% bigger than that.
Besides Storm Lake High School, Storm Lake Comm School District runs 5 other schools. The district enrolls 2,933 students.
Storm Lake High School is 56% Hispanic by enrollment. Beyond that, enrollment is 15% White, 13% Asian, 9% Pacific Islander, and 5% Black. In Buena Vista County overall, about 29% of residents are Hispanic. Storm Lake High School's diversity index is 63%, against a US figure of 70%.
Teacher staffing is 44.1 full-time equivalents, or about 19.3 students per teacher. This ratio sits 2.0 above the 17.3:1 average for high schools in Iowa. Eligibility for subsidized school meals is 66%.
Measured against Iowa public high schools, Storm Lake High School receives an F. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
In Iowa, Storm Lake High School is one of the bottom 10% of schools on BeatsExpectations, with an average proficiency rate on state tests of 47.1% compared with a predicted 59.1%.
Buena Vista County has these Census figures: the median household income is $71,719, roughly 22% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 5% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Buena Vista County is home to 15 public schools and about 4,691 public school students.
Of nearby public schools, St Lake/IA Cntrl/Buena Vista Early College HS is the closest, at less than a tenth of a mile. Storm Lake High School is one of several public schools in the area, with 5 others within five miles. Storm Lake High School's average proficiency of 47.1% compares with 62.6% for its nearest scored neighbors.
NCES lists the school's locale as Town: Remote. That means it sits in a town far from an urbanized area.
Enrollment in 2024-25 was 851, close to the 836 recorded in 2020-21.
Posts about science fairs, picture day, and bus routes are welcome on this page. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Buena Vista County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
20,753
Census ACS
Median income
$71,719
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
22%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
15
4,691 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Storm Lake Comm School District
- Storm Lake ElementaryElementary · 822 students
- Storm Lake Middle SchoolMiddle · 651 students
- Storm Lake Early Elementary SchoolElementary · 437 students
- East Early Childhood CtrElementary · 122 students
- St Lake/IA Cntrl/Buena Vista Early College HSHigh · 50 students
Other schools in Storm Lake
- Storm Lake ElementaryElementary · 822 students
- Storm Lake Middle SchoolMiddle · 651 students
- Storm Lake Early Elementary SchoolElementary · 437 students
- East Early Childhood CtrElementary · 122 students
- St Lake/IA Cntrl/Buena Vista Early College HSHigh · 50 students
Nearby schools
- St Lake/IA Cntrl/Buena Vista Early College HS0.0 mi · 50
- East Early Childhood Ctr0.4 mi · 122
- Storm Lake Middle School1.7 mi · 651
- Storm Lake Elementary1.8 mi · 822
- Storm Lake Early Elementary School1.9 mi · 437
- Alta Elementary School5.8 mi · 256
Frequently asked questions
About Storm Lake High SchoolHow large is Storm Lake High School?
Storm Lake High School enrolls approximately 851 students in grades 09-12.
What age range does Storm Lake High School serve?
Storm Lake High School serves students from grade 09 through grade 12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Storm Lake High School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Storm Lake High School is approximately 19.3:1 (44 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Storm Lake High School?
Student demographics at Storm Lake High School are roughly 15% White, 56% Hispanic, 5% Black, 13% Asian, 2% Two or more.
Who oversees Storm Lake High School?
Storm Lake High School is overseen by Storm Lake Comm School District in Buena Vista County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.