West Marshall Middle School

West Marshall Middle School is one of the tight-knit middle-grades schools in State Center, Iowa, run under West Marshall Comm School District, with 213 students on its rolls from grades 6 through 8. That puts it 47% smaller than the typical public school in Iowa, which averages around 400 students.

Across the 3 schools in West Marshall Comm School District (917 students total), West Marshall Middle School accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

For racial and ethnic makeup, West Marshall Middle School shows that the student body is overwhelmingly White (87%). Other groups include 8% Hispanic, 3% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 71% White, putting the school's mix considerably more White than the area baseline.

Looking at the economic backdrop, West Marshall Middle School logs 14 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 15.4:1. The state averages about 15.2:1, putting this campus right in line with peers. Roughly 34% of students at West Marshall Middle School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. By comparison, Marshall County runs at roughly 65%, so the school's eligibility rate is somewhat below the surrounding baseline.

After controlling for student poverty, West Marshall Middle School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 75.0%, the actual is 82.4%, a residual of +7.4 points.

Around the school, the surrounding county (Marshall County) logs that the typical household earns roughly $73,315 per year, 23% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 7%. Across Marshall County's 17 public schools (combined enrollment of about 6,903 students), West Marshall Middle School is one campus in the mix.

West Marshall High School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.1 miles from this campus. 2 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), West Marshall Middle School ranks 1st on composite proficiency, higher than the local average of 71.4%.

West Marshall Middle School operates from a low-density location.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at West Marshall Middle School has declined 14%, going from 247 students in 2018 to 213 in 2025. Class-load math has pulled in: from 16.5:1 in 2018 to 15.4:1 in 2025.

On this page, recent activity here tends to focus on sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.