NW Iowa News

There were 1,409 students enrolled in Palo Alto County schools in the 2023-24 school year, 1.5% less than the previous year, according to the Iowa Department of Education.

Of all the students welcomed at the time, 51.5% identified as male, 48.5% as female, and 0.1% identified themselves as non-binary or did not specify their gender.

Data also showed that white students made up 91.6% of the student body, the largest percentage in Palo Alto County schools, followed by Hispanic students with 5.2%, 1.6% multiracial, 0.9% Asian, 0.4% Black, 0.3% Native American and 0.1% Hawaiian or Pacific Islander.

West Elementary School had the highest enrollment among Palo Alto County’s 10 schools in the 2023-24 school year, welcoming 258 students.

Public school enrollment in Iowa remained relatively stable in the 2024-25 school year, with 480,665 students, a slight decrease of 0.63% compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, enrollment in accredited nonpublic schools grew by nearly 10%, reaching 39,356 students, up from 36,195. This increase was partially driven by the Students First Education Savings (ESA) program, with 27,866 students utilizing ESAs at nonpublic schools.

Rank	School name	School district	Total enrollment in 2022-23	Total enrollment in 2023-24	% change
1	West Elementary School	Emmetsburg Comm	265	258	-2.6%
2	Emmetsburg High School	Emmetsburg Comm	245	240	-2%
3	Emmetsburg Middle School	Emmetsburg Comm	225	225	0%
4	West Bend-Mallard Elementary School	West Bend-Mallard Comm	137	145	5.8%
5	West Bend-Mallard High School	West Bend-Mallard Comm	114	123	7.9%
6	West Bend-Mallard Middle School	West Bend-Mallard Comm	111	107	-3.6%
7	Graettinger-Terril High School	Graettinger-Terril Comm	105	100	-4.8%
8	Ruthven-Ayrshire Elementary School	Ruthven-Ayrshire Comm	73	73	0%
9	Ruthven-Ayrshire High School	Ruthven-Ayrshire Comm	77	70	-9.1%
10	Graettinger-Terril Middle School	Graettinger-Terril Comm	79	68	-13.9%