Original Research by School Decision on George Washington High School
George Washington High School is a regular public high school in the Cedar Rapids Community School District, serving grades nine through twelve. It is one of the district’s comprehensive high school options, located on the southeast side of the city in a residential area near the Forest Drive corridor. The school enrolls a large student body for a high school, and it operates within a district that has been actively reshaping its physical footprint and financial picture.
Cedar Rapids itself is a mid-sized city that functions as the economic hub of Eastern Iowa. Its economy is deeply tied to grain and corn processing, with major facilities operated by companies like Quaker Oats, Archer Daniels Midland, and Cargill. Large employers also include Collins Aerospace and Aegon. The city is divided by the Cedar River, and a recent major development, a data center announced in 2025, marks a significant economic investment. The metropolitan area has experienced steady population growth. The school district, the second largest in Iowa, has faced declining enrollment in recent years, which has driven budget reductions including staff cuts for the 2024-25 school year. At the same time, the district has opened three new elementary schools since 2022 through a facilities master plan funded by state sales tax, and it introduced City View Community High School as a secondary option with a distinct experiential learning model. These changes mean the district is in a period of adjustment, balancing newer facilities and program options against tighter resources.
Academically, George Washington High School’s state testing results from the 2024-25 school year show a mixed picture. In English language arts, the school’s proficiency rate is above a simple majority of students, while in math it is lower, with just above half of students meeting proficiency. Science proficiency sits between the two. Because only a single year of testing data was available, no trend can be observed. The school does not yet have sufficient data to be compared against other high schools within Linn County on an overall proficiency index or graduation rate, so a parent should consider these numbers as a baseline snapshot rather than a comparative verdict. A parent may want to look into how these results compare to the other comprehensive high schools in the Cedar Rapids district and ask the school about academic supports, particularly in math.
The student body is diverse. Roughly half of students are white, and the remaining half is made up of Black students, multiracial students, Hispanic students, Asian students, and small shares of Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander and American Indian or Alaska Native students. Nearly half of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a substantial share of households with lower income. Data on special education and English learner populations was not available, so a family with a child who has an individualized education plan or who is an English learner should verify directly with the school what supports are in place.
The school offers no publicly reported data on course access, staffing, discipline, or attendance. For a high school of this size, a parent would want to know about Advanced Placement, dual credit, and career and technical education offerings, as well as class sizes and the rate of chronic absenteeism. None of this was available in the provided data, so a family should seek this information from the school’s website or through direct inquiry.
The housing market in the broader Cedar Rapids area is somewhat more affordable than the national median home value, and rents have been rising substantially year over year. A household considering a move should be aware that the district’s attendance boundaries have recently been redrawn due to the elementary facilities plan, so the specific area near the high school may or may not feed into it depending on grade level.
The school’s overall profile is that of a large, traditional public high school in a complex urban district undergoing both investment and contraction. The testing data offers a starting point but not a complete picture. The missing information on programs, staffing, and student support means a family has homework to do before concluding whether this school matches their child’s needs.
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