Waterloo Times

There were 3,116 students enrolled in Buchanan County schools in the 2023-24 school year, 0.5% less than the previous year, according to the Iowa Department of Education.

Of all the students welcomed at the time, 51.4% identified as male and 48.6% as female.

Data also showed that white students made up 93.6% of the student body, the largest percentage in Buchanan County schools, followed by multiracial students with 3%, 2.5% Hispanic, 0.8% Black and 0.1% Asian.

Independence Junior Senior High School had the highest enrollment among Buchanan County’s 16 schools in the 2023-24 school year, welcoming 724 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	Independence Junior Senior High School	Independence Comm	701	724	3.3%
2	West Elementary School	Independence Comm	381	371	-2.6%
3	Jesup Elementary School	Jesup Comm	327	326	-0.3%
4	Jesup High School	Jesup Comm	278	288	3.6%
5	East Buchanan Elementary School	East Buchanan Comm	271	282	4.1%
6	East Elementary School	Independence Comm	298	281	-5.7%
7	Jesup Middle School	Jesup Comm	252	243	-3.6%
8	East Buchanan High School	East Buchanan Comm	186	179	-3.8%
9	Fairbank Elementary School	Wapsie Valley Comm	169	175	3.6%
10	East Buchanan Middle School	East Buchanan Comm	88	86	-2.3%
11	Triumph Elementary School	Jesup Comm	41	39	-4.9%
12	Rural Elementary School #2	Wapsie Valley Comm	26	28	7.7%
13	Perry #1 Elementary School	Jesup Comm	37	27	-27%
13	Rural Elementary School #1	Wapsie Valley Comm	24	27	12.5%
15	Prairie Grove Elementary School	Jesup Comm	23	22	-4.3%
16	Rural Elementary School #4	Wapsie Valley Comm	15	18	20%