The top reported proficiency rate is 80% in English language arts. The lowest is 68% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Highland Middle School
Highland Middle School serves sixth through eighth grade students in the Highland Community School District, a small rural district based in Riverside, Iowa. The middle school itself is not in the town of Riverside; it shares a campus with the high school in an unincorporated area roughly a short drive south of town, while the district’s elementary school sits inside Riverside. That physical separation matters for families whose children will make the transition from an in-town elementary to a campus outside the village center.
The student body is small and demographically homogeneous. Nearly all students are white, with a very small share of Hispanic students and an even smaller share of students identifying as two or more races. A modest portion of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on students with Individualized Education Programs and English learners was not available in the source material, so a parent looking for detailed special education or language support information would want to ask the school directly.
Academically, the school posts solid results on the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress. In reading, a large majority of students met or exceeded the proficiency standard. Math proficiency was lower, with roughly two-thirds of students scoring at the proficient level or above. Science proficiency, tested only in eighth grade, fell in a similar range as math. These results place the school’s overall proficiency across tested subjects above the midpoint among the three districts in Washington County. The data covers a single school year, so there is no trend line yet to show whether performance is rising or slipping. The participation rate on the assessments was high.
Riverside itself is a car-dependent rural community with a small downtown district, three city parks, and a handful of civic anchors including a history museum and a VFW post. The largest local employers are in health care, education, and retail. A casino and golf resort on the town’s eastern edge is a significant destination employer. The housing market in the area shows home values that are above the state average, and the town has seen recent growth, including a voter-approved general obligation bond for infrastructure. Most residents commute to work, and the town’s location near a major highway gives access to the Iowa City metropolitan area.
The district brief turned up no major recent changes in policy, curriculum, or funding that would be relevant to a parent considering enrollment. That may simply mean things have been stable, or it may mean the public record is thin. A parent who wants to know about class sizes, elective offerings, or extracurricular access at the middle school level would need to reach out to the school directly, as those details were not present in the available data.
This is a school that fits a family looking for a small rural setting with straightforward academic expectations. The reading scores are a clear strength. The math and science results are adequate but not exceptional, and a parent concerned about those subjects may want to ask how the school supports students who are not yet proficient. The student body offers little racial or socioeconomic diversity, which some families will see as neutral and others as a limitation. The middle school campus is removed from the town center, so the daily commute and after-school logistics will be different than they were for elementary school.
See more original research from School Decision →