Iowa City’s West Senior High School is the best public high school in Iowa according to a report released earlier this month by Niche, a ranking and review website for colleges and K-12 schools. In addition, Iowa City High and John F. Kennedy High School (Cedar Rapids) rank as Iowa’s fifth and sixth best schools, respectively.
The report looks at more than 14,000 high schools throughout the U.S., grading each school based on individually-weighted metrics that include academic performance, suspension and expulsion rates, parent and alumni surveys, student feedback and more.
According to Niche, “A high ranking indicates that the school is an exceptional academic institution with a diverse set of high-achieving students who rate their experience very highly.”
The graduation rate for Iowa City West High stands at 93 percent (compared to a national average of 81 percent), with 90 percent of students considered proficient in math and 87 percent of students considered proficient in reading. This is well above the statewide average for Iowa, according to Niche, which stands at 76.5 percent and 71.4 percent for math and reading, respectively.
City High saw similar marks to that of West High, touting a graduation rate of 92 percent, with 87 percent of the students considered proficient in math and 85 percent considered proficient in reading.
An overview of Niche’s methodology is available here.
