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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at Summit Middle School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,118
Middle
DISTRICT 917 · STATE 400
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·JOHNSTON COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 191545000749
Summit Middle School
9500 Windsor Parkway, Johnston, IA 50131 · (515) 986-0318 · Polk County
GRADES 06–07MIDDLE21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL1,118 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
15.4:1
73 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.5:1 · STATE 15.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
26%
291 students
DISTRICT 26% · STATE 41%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 550 | 49% |
| Grade 7 | 568 | 51% |
Student demographics
52%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 56% · 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
Students here typically continue to
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Johnston Comm School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
ISASP 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
83.3%
IA avg 73.6% . +0.1pp since 2023
Math
81.9%
IA avg 70.9% . +2.8pp since 2023
What this means: On the ISASP, Iowa's statewide test, about 83 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 82 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Iowa schools, those numbers are about 74 and 71. Reading and writing scores have held steady since 2023, while math scores are up about 3 points.
ISASP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 83.3% | 81.9% |
| 2023-24 | 83.2% | 79.1% |
% 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
81.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
78.9%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+3.0pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 82% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 79% 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 Summit Middle School
Summit Middle School's state test result (81.9% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summit Middle School this school | 1,118 | 26.0% | 81.9% |
| South Middle School Waukee | 1,092 | 25.5% | 81.3% |
| Ames Middle School Ames | 1,033 | 31.2% | 76.6% |
| Hazel Point Intermediate School Marion | 563 | 20.4% | 83.8% |
| Oak Ridge Middle School Marion | 534 | 21.3% | 82.1% |
| Pleasant Valley Junior High School LeClaire | 940 | 9.6% | 90.5% |
Matched among Iowa middle 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 Summit Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa | In Polk County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 81.9% | #53 of 224 | #4 of 21 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 81.9% | #62 of 224 ▲ 19 | #4 of 21 ▲ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 83.3% | #62 of 224 ▲ 12 | #6 of 21 ▼ 2 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,118 | #3 of 246 | #1 of 21 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.4:1 | #132 of 180 | #12 of 21 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 52.3% | #49 of 180 | #14 of 21 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 26.0% | #187 of 237 | #17 of 21 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +0.5% | #59 of 61 | #6 of 6 |
Ranked against other public middle 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
1,118
-8 (-1%) vs 2020
+16% since 2010-11, when it was 963
Student : Teacher
15.4:1
was 16.6:1
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 | 1,118 | 72.6 | 15.4:1 | 26% (291) |
| 2023-24 | 1,135 | 69 | 16.4:1 | 30% (335) |
| 2022-23 | 1,112 | 69.4 | 16.0:1 | 27% (298) |
| 2020-21 | 1,126 | 68 | 16.6:1 | 20% (229) |
| 2017-18 | 1,112 | 64.6 | 17.2:1 | 26% (288) |
| 2015-16 | 1,092 | 64 | 17.1:1 | 19% (203) |
| 2010-11 | 963 | 65 | 14.8:1 | 17% (161) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Summit Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students up 1% (1,112 to 1,118); teachers up 12% (64.6 to 72.6).
About Summit Middle School
Summit Middle School is a large middle school found in Johnston, Iowa. The student body numbers 1,118 students, from grades 6 through 7. Average enrollment for middle schools in Iowa is about 400, so this school runs 180% bigger than that.
Besides Summit Middle School, Johnston Comm School District runs 7 other schools. The district enrolls 7,339 students.
A majority of students at Summit Middle School, 67%, are White. The rest of enrollment is 11% Asian, 10% Black, 7% Hispanic, and 4% multiracial. Among all residents of Polk County, the White share is about 76%. By the diversity index, Summit Middle School comes in at 52%.
The school employs the equivalent of 72.6 full-time teachers, for a ratio of 15.4:1. Across middle schools in Iowa, the average ratio is about 15.2:1. The free or reduced-price lunch rate at Summit Middle School is 26%. On average, public schools in Polk County report 49%.
On BeatsExpectations, Summit Middle School is 3.0 points above its prediction, a result in the middle 80% of Iowa schools.
Within Polk County, median household income is about $83,576, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 40%, and roughly 7% of residents are in poverty. The public schools of Polk County number 137 and enroll about 77,436.
The nearest public school is Horizon Elementary, at about 0.2 miles. Summit Middle School has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. The nearest schools with test data average 76.9%, lower than Summit Middle School's 81.9%.
Under the NCES locale system, Summit Middle School is Suburb: Large.
Compared with 2020-21, when it had 1,126 students, enrollment in 2024-25 was about the same at 1,118. There were fewer students per teacher in 2024-25 (15.4:1) than in 2020-21 (16.6:1).
Questions about sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week can be posted here. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Polk County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
503,175
Census ACS
Median income
$83,576
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
40%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
137
77,436 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Johnston Comm School District
- Johnston Senior High SchoolHigh · 1,820 students
- Johnston Middle SchoolHigh · 1,161 students
- Henry A Wallace Elementary SchoolElementary · 840 students
- Timber Ridge ElementaryElementary · 667 students
- Horizon ElementaryElementary · 613 students
- Beaver Creek Elementary SchoolElementary · 575 students
Other schools in Johnston
- Johnston Senior High SchoolHigh · 1,820 students
- Johnston Middle SchoolHigh · 1,161 students
- Henry A Wallace Elementary SchoolElementary · 840 students
- Timber Ridge ElementaryElementary · 667 students
- Horizon ElementaryElementary · 613 students
- Beaver Creek Elementary SchoolElementary · 575 students
Other Summit Middle schools
3 other US public schools in 4 states are named Summit Middle. Summit Middle School is the largest of the 4.
- Summit Middle SchoolEdmond, OK · 879 students
- Summit Middle SchoolFort Wayne, IN · 789 students
- Summit Middle SchoolFRISCO, CO · 737 students
Nearby schools
- Horizon Elementary0.2 mi · 613
- Johnston Senior High School0.9 mi · 1,820
- Beaver Creek Elementary School1.1 mi · 575
- Timber Ridge Elementary1.7 mi · 667
- Johnston Middle School2.3 mi · 1,161
- Urbandale Middle School2.4 mi · 892
Frequently asked questions
About Summit Middle SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Summit Middle School?
Summit Middle School enrolls approximately 1,118 students in grades 06-07.
What age range does Summit Middle School serve?
Summit Middle School serves students from grade 06 through grade 07.
How many students per teacher at Summit Middle School?
Approximately 15.4:1 students per teacher at Summit Middle School.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Summit Middle School?
At Summit Middle School, the student body is approximately 67% White, 7% Hispanic, 10% Black, 11% Asian, 4% Two or more.
Is Summit Middle School public or private?
Summit Middle School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Johnston Comm School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.