The top reported proficiency rate is 90% in English language arts. The lowest is 79% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Holmes Junior High School
Holmes Junior High School serves students in grades seven through nine as a regular public school in the Cedar Falls Community School District. It occupies a single campus in Cedar Falls, a city in Black Hawk County. The school’s enrollment is evenly distributed across the three grades, and the student body the most recent year on record was substantially white, with small shares of students identified as two or more races, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and American Indian or Alaska Native. Just over a quarter of students qualified for free or reduced-price lunch, a measure of economic need common across many public schools.
State testing results from the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress are available for one school year. The school posted high proficiency rates in all three tested subjects. English language arts proficiency was very high, math proficiency was also high, and science proficiency was high though slightly lower than the other two. Participation rates on the tests were very high, meaning the results reflect nearly all enrolled students. Because only one year of data is available, there is no basis for a trend at this point. A parent interested in year-over-year movement would need to check back once a second year is reported.
Within Black Hawk County, Holmes Junior High School’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades stood above the midpoint of the five districts that reported comparable data for this grade band. The school’s composite proficiency index was higher than both the median and the top of the range among those districts, placing it in the highest quartile. These comparisons are specific to the county; state-level or national positioning was not available.
The school serves a grade range that ends at ninth grade, so no graduation rate applies, and chronic absenteeism data was not reported. Information on special education identification and English learner status was missing from the available records, as were data on discipline rates, staffing ratios, and course access. A family considering this school may want to ask the school directly about class sizes, elective offerings, and support programs for students with individualized education plans, since those details are not captured in the public data.
No recent district-level changes that would directly affect parents were found in publicly available searches of the Cedar Falls Community School District. That means property tax changes, bond referendums, curriculum shifts, or boundary adjustments do not appear in the record for the past span. A parent should still check the district’s own communications for any updates.
Housing in the Cedar Falls zip code area carries a typical cost for the region. Home values and rents have seen modest year-over-year increases, which aligns with national trends. The mortgage rate environment and rental costs sit near national norms, so the area does not stand out as particularly expensive or cheap relative to the broader market.
Holmes Junior High School fits a family looking for a mid-sized junior high with demonstrated strength on state assessments, especially in reading and math. The student body is not highly diverse, and the share of students from low-income households is moderate. The school is part of a district that does not appear to be undergoing major visible shifts. For families who value solid academic performance over a range of school climate measures, the available testing record gives a clear positive signal, but the absence of data on discipline, special education, and staff ratios means those dimensions remain to be explored through a visit or conversation with the school. The comparison to other Black Hawk County districts suggests that in terms of test results, this school’s level is among the stronger options in the county for this grade span.
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