The top reported proficiency rate is 82% in English language arts. The lowest is 74% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Monticello Middle School
Monticello Middle School serves grades five through eight as a regular public school within the Monticello Community School District. It is the only middle school in the district, drawing students from the small city of Monticello and the surrounding rural area of Jones County. The school occupies a building on East Oak Street, part of the district’s campus cluster, though the precise walking distance from the downtown core is not described in available sources.
Academically, Monticello Middle School posts results that stand out in its local context. On the statewide Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress, a strong majority of students met or exceeded proficiency standards in English language arts, math, and science. When the school’s overall proficiency across tested subjects is compared to other school districts in Jones County, it lands in the top quartile. This is a meaningful signal for families prioritizing consistent academic attainment: the middle school’s performance is among the stronger options in the county. Only a single year of assessment data is available in the profile, so it is not possible to gauge trend direction, but the current snapshot is clearly positive.
The student body is moderate in size, with roughly comparable numbers across fifth through eighth grades. The demographic makeup is predominantly white, with modest shares of Hispanic, Black, and multiracial students. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, suggesting a meaningful presence of lower-income households in the community. Data on students with disabilities and English learners were not reported, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about the range of support services available for those groups.
Monticello itself is a small processing and manufacturing hub. The city describes roughly a dozen industries that employ hundreds of people in fields like plastics, hydraulics, and steel fabrication. Most daily needs can be met in town, and the highway bypass that opened several years ago shifted through-traffic away from the old downtown, quieting the main street while preserving a compact commercial core. Population has been essentially flat in recent years, and the city has invested in new recreation and civic facilities: an aquatic center, an all-weather track, a public library and Renaissance Center, and a sports complex developed jointly with the school district. Housing values sit near the statewide median, and the local market has seen modest appreciation. The tax rate has reportedly dropped for several consecutive years, an unusual pattern that may appeal to cost-conscious residents.
Because this is a middle school, there is no graduation rate to report, and data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, staffing ratios, and course access were not available in the profile. The district brief turned up no major recent changes or strategic initiatives that would alter the school’s direction. For a family moving to Jones County, Monticello Middle School offers a clear academic strength relative to its neighbors, set in a stable small town with an active local economy and recent public investments. The missing pieces around special education caseload, student-teacher ratios, and extracurricular offerings are worth clarifying directly with the school office before making a decision.
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