Cedar Rapids Today

There were 3,656 students enrolled in Benton County schools in the 2023-24 school year, 2.1% less than the previous year, according to the Iowa Department of Education.

Of all the students welcomed at the time, 52% identified as male, 47.9% as female, and 0.1% identified themselves as non-binary or did not specify their gender.

Data also showed that white students made up 91.2% of the student body, the largest percentage in Benton County schools, followed by multiracial students with 4.1%, 3.3% Hispanic, 1% Black, 0.3% Asian and 0.1% Native American.

Benton Community Senior High School had the highest enrollment among Benton County’s 12 schools in the 2023-24 school year, welcoming 490 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	Benton Community Senior High School	Benton Comm	496	490	-1.2%
2	Tilford Elementary School	Vinton-Shellsburg Comm	506	479	-5.3%
3	Vinton-Shellsburg High School	Vinton-Shellsburg Comm	425	406	-4.5%
4	Norway Elementary School	Benton Comm	338	341	0.9%
5	Vinton-Shellsburg Middle School	Vinton-Shellsburg Comm	318	337	6%
6	Atkins Elementary School	Benton Comm	312	302	-3.2%
7	Center Point-Urbana Intermediate School	Center Point-Urbana Comm	304	275	-9.5%
8	Longfellow Elementary School	Belle Plaine Comm	257	259	0.8%
9	Shellsburg Elementary School	Vinton-Shellsburg Comm	203	225	10.8%
10	Benton Community Middle School	Benton Comm	235	212	-9.8%
11	Belle Plaine Junior-Senior High School	Belle Plaine Comm	193	203	5.2%
12	Keystone Elementary School	Benton Comm	149	127	-14.8%