The top reported proficiency rate is 85% in English language arts. The lowest is 74% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Interstate 35 Middle School
Interstate 35 Middle School serves grades five through eight in the small, rural community of Truro, Iowa. The town sits in southeast Madison County alongside Interstate 35, putting the Des Moines metropolitan area within practical reach. Truro itself is a very small residential place, still under one square mile in area, with a family-oriented profile and a median age that points to households with children. The community has grown slowly over recent years, and home values in the zip code sit somewhat above the state average, suggesting a stable local housing market. The middle school is one of several Interstate 35 schools located within the town itself, so the campus is integrated into the small downtown grid rather than set apart.
Academically, the school reports strong results on the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress. In English language arts, a large majority of students scored at the proficient level or above. Science results were similarly strong. Math proficiency, while still at a solid level, was somewhat lower than the school’s reading and science results. A family looking at the testing picture will see a middle school that performs well overall, with reading as a particular strength. The school’s overall proficiency index, combining all tested subjects and grades, places it slightly below the midpoint when compared to the other districts in Madison County, though the gap is small and the three-district comparison means the positioning is within a narrow band.
The student body of about 230 students is overwhelmingly white, with a small share of Hispanic students and even smaller numbers from other racial backgrounds. About a quarter of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that marks the school as serving a largely middle-income population with some economic diversity. Enrollment is spread fairly evenly across grades five through eight, which suggests a steady pipeline from the elementary school. The school does not have data on students with individualized education programs or English learners in the available records, so families with questions about special education or language support programs would need to ask the school directly.
This is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. It does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report, and no data on chronic absenteeism appears in the available information. The Interstate 35 district as a whole has no recent major changes publicly reported, so the school’s programming appears stable.
For a family, the picture that emerges is of a small middle school in a quiet rural town where academic performance is solid, especially in reading and science, and where the student population is predominantly white and largely middle-income. The school sits within a district that houses all its buildings in the same small town, so the elementary through high school experience is contained within a familiar, compact setting. Parents considering a move to the area or placement here should note that the school’s math results, while adequate, are not as strong as its language arts and science outcomes, and that the available data leaves some questions about special programs unanswered without a direct conversation with the school.
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