Tipton Middle School

Tipton Middle School is a cozy junior high in Tipton, Iowa, part of Tipton Comm School District. The school educates 256 students in grades 5 through 8. That puts it 36% leaner than the typical public school in Iowa, which averages around 400 students.

Across the 3 schools in Tipton Comm School District (842 students total), Tipton Middle School accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

On the student-mix side, Tipton Middle School records that 93% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority. Other groups include 5% Hispanic. Compared to Cedar County overall, the school's racial mix sits in roughly the same range.

On the resource side, On paper, Tipton Middle School has 21 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 12.0:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 15.2:1, putting Tipton Middle School tighter than the state norm the norm. Roughly 24% of students at Tipton Middle School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Tipton Middle School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 80.0%, the actual is 74.4%, a residual of -5.6 points.

In the broader community, the surrounding county (Cedar County) reports that the typical household earns roughly $80,602 per year, roughly 24% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 5%. In all, Cedar County runs 13 public schools (combined enrollment of about 3,030 students), of which Tipton Middle School is one.

Nearest neighbor: Tipton Elementary School, around 0.1 miles off. Within five miles, there are 2 other public schools. Among the 8 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Tipton Middle School ranks 3rd on composite proficiency, ahead of the local average of 68.8%.

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

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count decreased 15%: 301 students in 2018 compared to 256 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio fell from 16.8:1 in 2018 to 12.0:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, members of the Tipton Middle School community share and discuss fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.