Original Research by School Decision on Alburnett Senior High School
Alburnett Senior High School serves grades nine through twelve as part of the Alburnett Community School District, a single-building district housing preschool through twelfth grade in the small Linn County town of Alburnett. The town sits within the Cedar Rapids metropolitan area and describes itself with the motto “The comfort of country and community,” which gives a fair sense of the setting: a compact, mainly residential place where the school is a central civic institution alongside city hall and the volunteer fire department. Most working residents likely commute to the larger metro area for employment.
The school enrolls a small high school population, with roughly similar numbers across each grade. The student body is almost entirely white. A modest share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the source materials, so a parent who needs specific information about those supports should ask the school directly.
Academically, the school posted strong proficiency rates on state assessments in the most recent year reported. In English language arts, the share of students meeting the proficiency benchmark was solidly above the midpoint. In mathematics, the rate was also well above what many schools report. In science, the rate was somewhat lower but still comfortably above the state midpoint for many districts. Because only a single year of data was available for each subject, there is no trend line to show whether these results represent a steady pattern or a single-year snapshot. A parent may want to ask how recent cohorts have performed to see if these numbers reflect a consistent picture.
The school’s graduation rate was not included in the available data, which is an important gap for any high school. The comparison fact-set also flagged that this metric was not applicable, though that designation appears to be a data limitation rather than a reflection of the school itself. A family considering Alburnett Senior High School should ask the district directly for its four-year graduation rate, as that is a standard measure of whether students are finishing high school on time.
The curriculum and program offerings were not detailed in the source materials. There was no listing of Advanced Placement courses, dual-credit or career-technical pathways, or extracurricular opportunities. The district’s single-building setup may mean that course breadth is more limited than what larger high schools in the Cedar Rapids area can offer, but that is an inference from the size and structure of the district rather than a finding from the data. A family with a student interested in specialized academic tracks or a wide range of electives would want to review the course catalog directly.
Housing values in the Alburnett area sit above the statewide benchmark and have seen some upward movement in the most recent year, consistent with modest population growth in the town. The estimated monthly mortgage cost on a median-priced home is higher than the estimated rent for a comparable unit, which suggests that renting may be the more accessible entry point for a household that does not already own. The area’s unemployment rate is near the national average, and median household income nationally sits in the mid-range; local figures were not broken out separately.
The district brief turned up no recent changes such as bond referendums, curriculum overhauls, or property tax shifts that would meet the threshold of lasting relevance for parents. That does not mean the district is static, only that nothing surfaced in the review.
Alburnett Senior High School presents as a small, rural high school with solid academic proficiency in the subjects measured. The student body is demographically homogeneous, and the setting is tightly integrated into the town’s daily life. The missing graduation rate and lack of detail on course offerings are the two most significant gaps for any family trying to size up whether this school fits their student’s needs. A direct conversation with the district office would be the best next step for filling those in.
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