Sioux City Times

There were 4,394 students enrolled in Buena Vista County schools in the 2023-24 school year, 1% more than the previous year, according to the Iowa Department of Education.

Of all the students welcomed at the time, 51.1% identified as male and 48.9% as female.

Data also showed that Hispanic students made up 40.7% of the student body, the largest percentage in Buena Vista County schools, followed by white students with 36.6%, 9% Asian, 8.5% Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 2.9% Black, 2.1% multiracial and 0.1% Native American.

Storm Lake Middle School had the highest enrollment among Buena Vista County’s 14 schools in the 2023-24 school year, welcoming 843 students.

Public school enrollment in Iowa remained relatively stable in the 2024-25 school year, with 480,665 students, a slight decrease of 0.63% compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, enrollment in accredited nonpublic schools grew by nearly 10%, reaching 39,356 students, up from 36,195. This increase was partially driven by the Students First Education Savings (ESA) program, with 27,866 students utilizing ESAs at nonpublic schools.

Rank	School name	School district	Total enrollment in 2022-23	Total enrollment in 2023-24	% change
1	Storm Lake Middle School	Storm Lake Comm	787	843	7.1%
2	Storm Lake Elementary School	Storm Lake Comm	814	807	-0.9%
3	Storm Lake High School	Storm Lake Comm	793	805	1.5%
4	Sioux Central High School	Sioux Central Comm	274	260	-5.1%
5	Newell-Fonda Elementary School	Newell-Fonda Comm	254	255	0.4%
6	Storm Lake Early Elementary School	Storm Lake Comm	245	247	0.8%
7	Alta Elementary School	Alta-Aurelia Comm	200	221	10.5%
8	Sioux Central Elementary School	Sioux Central Comm	191	200	4.7%
9	Alta-Aurelia High School	Alta-Aurelia Comm	206	199	-3.4%
10	Sioux Central Middle School	Sioux Central Comm	141	145	2.8%
11	Newell-Fonda High School	Newell-Fonda Comm	166	139	-16.3%
12	Newell-Fonda Middle School	Newell-Fonda Comm	123	130	5.7%
13	Albert City-Truesdale Elementary School	Albert City-Truesdale Comm	102	91	-10.8%
14	St. Lake/Iowa Cntrl/Buena Vista Early College High School	Storm Lake Comm	54	52	-3.7%