Enrollment
52
Iowa · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Diagonal, IA
Diagonal Junior-Senior High School
Federal NCES profile for Diagonal Junior-Senior High School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 41/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 190906000594
👥 S:T ratio 58
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 13
📋 Attendance 23
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Diagonal Junior-Senior High School earns 41/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 92% of Iowa schools. It is also one of the smallest schools in Iowa.
- 41
- Resource Index · Typical
- 10.4:1
- small classes for Iowa
- 40.3%
- free-lunch eligible
- 52
- students enrolled
Diagonal Junior-Senior High School has class sizes smaller than 92% of Iowa schools. Computed live against every Iowa school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Diagonal Comm School District · Iowa
NCES ID 190906000594 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
5.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
10.4:1
vs 14.8:1 Iowa avg
-30% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
40.3%
vs 36.4% Iowa avg
+11% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Diagonal Junior-Senior High School compares with Iowa and U.S. medians
What stands out at Diagonal Junior-Senior High School
Small campus with unusually lean teacher staffing
Diagonal Junior-Senior High School sits near the smaller end of the Iowa enrollment distribution while also reporting a lower student-teacher ratio than most state schools. That pairing is consistent with a compact, teacher-dense setting, though small scale can limit the number of specialized courses or support roles a campus can sustain. The program and staffing sections below show whether the lean ratio extends beyond classroom teachers into broader student services.
The composite reveals a resource-side weakness
Diagonal Junior-Senior High School's free-meal eligibility sits closer to the broad Iowa middle than to an extreme, but its Resource Investment Index falls near the lower end of scored schools. That makes the composite itself the notable signal rather than student need. Inspecting the underlying factors matters here: a low score can result from thin counselor coverage, limited gifted access, attendance pressure, or heavier classroom staffing, and those are different operational problems.
Attendance is the dominant support signal
Diagonal Junior-Senior High School's 30.8% chronic-absence rate is more consequential than a generic staffing label: at least one quarter of students missed 10% or more of school days in the 2021-22 collection. That level can affect instruction, counseling demand, and continuity even when other reported resources look ordinary. The dataset records the scale of absence but not its causes, so it should prompt a current-year question rather than a conclusion about school management.
Diagonal Junior-Senior High School is a small combined-grade school in Diagonal, Iowa, enrolling 52 students.
Classes run notably small here: at 10.4:1, Diagonal Junior-Senior High School is leaner than roughly 92% of Iowa schools and 30% under the state's 14.8:1 norm, more adult attention per pupil than most peers.
Economic need runs somewhat above the state's typical profile, with 40.3% of students eligible for free meals.
This is a small campus: fewer students than 97% of Iowa schools, with 52 enrolled.
Its Resource Investment Index lands in the lower third of 1,322 scored Iowa schools.
Against 22 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks mid-pack at #14.
Its student body is predominantly White (100% of enrollment), among the less diverse in the state (diversity index 0/100).
Counselor access is stretched at roughly 433 students per counselor, well above the ASCA-recommended 250:1 ceiling.
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 30.8% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
The surrounding Diagonal Comm School District spends $17,085 per pupil, 27% above the Iowa average, a better-resourced district than most.
Its district draws 17.4% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.
Among Diagonal's public schools, it stands alongside Diagonal Elementary School (58 students): Diagonal Junior-Senior High School is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs heavier classes (10.4:1 vs 9.7:1).
Its district, Diagonal Comm School District, also runs Diagonal Elementary School (58 students).
Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
How Diagonal Junior-Senior High School compares
Diagonal Junior-Senior High School on the metrics families compare, against Iowa and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Iowa | Iowa avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 10.4:1 | ▼ 30% | 14.8:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 40.3% | ▲ 11% | 36.4% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 52 | top 97% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
10.4:1
Leaner classes than 87% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
52
Bigger than 6% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
40.3%
free-lunch eligible
- 11% above the Iowa average of 36.4%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
10.4:1
students per teacher
- 30% below state mean
Top 8% in Iowa - lower ratio than 92% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
30.8%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$17,085
per pupil, district-wide
- above Iowa avg of $13,441
Close to the U.S. public-school average per-pupil spend.
Support staff
Counselors0.1 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
5
in-school suspensions + 0 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 9.6 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 9.6 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Student demographics
White 100.0%
Largest group: White at 100.0% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 0.0/100
Simpson diversity index - at 0.0, Diagonal Junior-Senior High School is less mixed than the Iowa school average of 33.8.
Programs
Gifted & talented Yes
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Diagonal Comm School District, which includes Diagonal Junior-Senior High School.
$17,085
Per student
+27%
vs Iowa
Avg $13,441
-3%
vs U.S.
Avg $17,658
Revenue mix
Local 45.0%
State 37.6%
Federal 17.4%
Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2022-23 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.
How Diagonal Junior-Senior High School Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diagonal Elementary School | Similar size | Lower economic need | Similar S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Diagonal Junior-Senior High School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 58
- Students per teacher
- 9.7:1
- Resource Index
- 59/100
Similar other schools in Diagonal
1 comparable other schools (grades Mixed) serving the same city.
Similar other schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Iowa, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~52 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~10.4:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Diagonal Junior-Senior High School's federal record.
- Compare Diagonal Junior-Senior High School against another school. Compare schools
- Diagonal Comm School District's spending and staffing shape this school. District profile
- Confirm current enrollment and boundaries with the school. Choosing guide
Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.
Frequently asked questions about Diagonal Junior-Senior High School
How many students attend Diagonal Junior-Senior High School?
Diagonal Junior-Senior High School has 52 students enrolled. It is a public school in Diagonal, IA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Diagonal Junior-Senior High School?
The student-teacher ratio at Diagonal Junior-Senior High School is 10.4:1, which is 30% lower than the Iowa average of 14.8:1 and 34% lower than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Diagonal Junior-Senior High School?
40.3% of students at Diagonal Junior-Senior High School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Iowa average of 36.4%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Diagonal Junior-Senior High School?
The largest demographic group at Diagonal Junior-Senior High School is White at 100.0% of enrollment, in Diagonal, IA.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Diagonal Junior-Senior High School?
Diagonal Junior-Senior High School has a Resource Investment Index of 41/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, gifted-program reporting, counselor availability, chronic absenteeism. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
What other schools are in Diagonal Comm School District?
Besides Diagonal Junior-Senior High School, Diagonal Comm School District also operates Diagonal Elementary School (58 students). See the Diagonal Comm School District district page for the complete list.
Related tools
Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, the data changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.