Waterloo Times

There were 3,076 Black students enrolled in Black Hawk County schools in the 2023-24 school year, 0.8% more than the previous year, according to the Iowa Department of Education.

Data showed that Black Hawk County welcomed 17,514 students during the 2023-24 school year. Among them, Black students comprised 17.6% of the student body to be the second represented ethnicity in the county.

Among the 34 schools in the county, West High School recorded the highest enrollment of Black students in the 2023-24 school year, with a total of 361 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.

School Name	School District	% of Black Students	Black Students Count	Total School Enrollment
West High School	Waterloo Comm	21.1%	361	1,713
East High School	Waterloo Comm	32%	324	1,013
Lincoln Elementary School	Waterloo Comm	46.5%	213	458
Cunningham School	Waterloo Comm	56.9%	210	369
George Washington Carver Academy	Waterloo Comm	46.8%	209	447
Expo Alternative Learning Center	Waterloo Comm	35.8%	207	578
Hoover Middle School	Waterloo Comm	20.2%	168	831
Central Middle School	Waterloo Comm	34.1%	159	466
Lou Henry Elementary School	Waterloo Comm	33.1%	151	456
Irving Elementary School	Waterloo Comm	35.8%	139	388
Highland Elementary School	Waterloo Comm	31%	133	429
Kittrell Elementary School	Waterloo Comm	24.2%	126	520
Fred Becker Elementary School	Waterloo Comm	26.5%	112	422
Lowell Elementary School	Waterloo Comm	30.6%	105	343
Bunger Middle School	Waterloo Comm	20.7%	97	469
Cedar Falls High School	Cedar Falls Comm	3.7%	50	1,336
Kingsley Elementary School	Waterloo Comm	13%	46	355
Poyner Elementary School	Waterloo Comm	10.8%	36	334
Orange Elementary School	Waterloo Comm	7.8%	36	460
Lincoln Elementary School	Cedar Falls Comm	7%	30	428
Peet Junior High School	Cedar Falls Comm	4.3%	30	690
Holmes Junior High School	Cedar Falls Comm	3.8%	24	629
Cedar Heights Elementary School	Cedar Falls Comm	5.8%	24	413
North Cedar Elementary School	Cedar Falls Comm	8.2%	23	279
Helen a Hansen Elementary School	Cedar Falls Comm	3.7%	20	547
Southdale Elementary School	Cedar Falls Comm	3.3%	16	489
Orchard Hill Elementary School	Cedar Falls Comm	1.9%	8	432
Union High School	Union Comm	1.3%	4	315
Hudson High School	Hudson Comm	1.1%	4	368
Hudson Elementary School	Hudson Comm	0.9%	4	469
Bess Streeter Aldrich Elementary School	Cedar Falls Comm	0.9%	4	445
Dunkerton High School	Dunkerton Comm	1%	2	208
La Porte City Elementary School	Union Comm	0.4%	1	241
Dunkerton Elementary School	Dunkerton Comm	0%	0	174