Ottumwa Community School District Celebrates Growth in 2025 Iowa School Performance Profiles

Posted Date: 9/25/25 (11:14 AM)

Dear Ottumwa Schools’ Families and Community,

The Iowa Department of Education has released the 2025 Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) School Performance Profiles, also known as Iowa’s school “report card.” These profiles provide transparent information about how schools are serving students, highlighting both successes and opportunities for growth.

What the School Profiles Mean

ESSA maintains a focus on accountability, academic improvement, and gains for all students.
Iowa’s system emphasizes academic proficiency and growth for all students, while providing extra resources and support to schools that need it most.
Each school receives an overall score as well as subgroup scores for various student populations.
Schools identified for additional support will work with the state to create improvement plans, with parents and community members invited to participate.

You can explore previous Iowa School Performance Profiles here: https://www.iaschoolperformance.gov/

Ottumwa’s 2025 Highlights

The Ottumwa Community School District is proud to share strong progress across our schools:

Districtwide Growth: 10 of our 11 school buildings saw improvements in their overall profile scores.
Commendable Recognition: Eisenhower Elementary and Horace Mann Elementary earned Commendable status, highlighting excellence in student learning and growth.
Academic Gains: Significant improvements and growth were made districtwide in both Math and English Language Arts, showing our strong emphasis on literacy and math curriculum and instruction.
Work-Based Learning Success: Student participation in work experience programs has significantly increased, rising from 4% to over 30% over the last year. This growth highlights our ongoing commitment to strengthening community partnerships that prepare students for success after high school through valuable and relevant field experiences.
Graduation Rates Continue to Rise: OHS saw a remarkable increase in its graduation rate, reaching nearly 95%, substantially higher than the state average and among the top graduation rates in the state. This achievement, combined with our work-based learning initiatives, highlights our commitment to ensuring that students not only graduate on time but also possess a clear sense of purpose and a pathway to future success.

While we celebrate these achievements, we also acknowledge areas that require continued attention and improvement.

Several of our schools have been identified as Targeted due to performance gaps amongst specific subgroups of our students, particularly English Language Learners and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders. Closing these disparities is a top priority for our district, and we are focusing our efforts on enhanced student support, high-quality curriculum and classroom practices, and improved family engagement.

“These results provide us with both reasons to celebrate and specific areas for improvement,” stated Superintendent Mike McGrory. “We take pride in the progress our students and staff have achieved, and we remain committed to investing in high-quality programs, resources, and tools for our educators, as well as enhancing curricular resources and refining classroom strategies to ensure the success of every learner.”

At Ottumwa Community Schools, our unwavering focus is to “Be The Best,” a commitment that drives us to deliver exceptional educational experiences for every student, every single day. The recently released 2025 Iowa School Performance Profiles showcase not only our significant progress but also highlight the potential for even greater achievements on the horizon for our students and our community. We are dedicated to fostering an environment where each learner can thrive and reach their fullest potential.

For questions, families are encouraged to reach out directly to their child’s school.

Sincerely,

Mike McGrory

Superintendent, Ottumwa Community School District

ottumwaschools.com