Wapello Senior High School

Wapello Senior High School is a four-year high school of minimally staffed scale in Wapello, Iowa, overseen by Wapello Comm School District, hosting 187 students in grades 9 through 12. By comparison, Iowa's public schools average about 468 students each, so Wapello Senior High School sits 60% below that benchmark.

Wapello Comm School District runs 3 schools in total, collectively educating 518 students. Wapello Senior High School is one of those campuses.

On demographics, Wapello Senior High School records that nearly all students (84%) are White; the rest comes out to 12% Hispanic, 2% Black.

Looking at school resources, Staff filings list 13 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 14.4:1 students per teacher. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 17.3:1, putting Wapello Senior High School tighter than the state norm the norm. About 39% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.

With demographic context factored in, Wapello Senior High School tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 72.4% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 63.0%.

Zooming out to the county, census data for Louisa County shows median household earnings sit near $77,354, roughly 17% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Louisa County runs 9 public schools (combined enrollment of about 2,165 students), of which Wapello Senior High School is one.

The closest other public school is Wapello Junior High School, roughly 0.0 miles away. Counting just inside five miles, 2 other public schools cluster around Wapello Senior High School. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Wapello Senior High School ranks 7th on composite proficiency, below the local average of 68.3%.

Geographically, the school is in an outlying area.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count shrank 21%: 237 students in 2018 compared to 187 in 2025. The White share of enrollment decreased from 91% to 84% over that span.

Within the allk12 community for this school, recent activity here tends to focus on enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.