SW Iowa Times

There were 1,816 students enrolled in Shelby County schools in the 2023-24 school year, 0.8% less than the previous year, according to the Iowa Department of Education.

Of all the students welcomed at the time, 53.7% identified as male and 46.3% as female.

Data also showed that white students made up 88.3% of the student body, the largest percentage in Shelby County schools, followed by Hispanic students with 7.4%, 3.3% multiracial, 0.8% Black and 0.1% Asian and Native American.

Harlan High School had the highest enrollment among Shelby County’s six schools in the 2023-24 school year, welcoming 477 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	Harlan High School	Harlan Comm	477	477	0%
2	Harlan Community Middle School	Harlan Comm	342	343	0.3%
3	Harlan Intermediate School	Harlan Comm	310	324	4.5%
4	Harlan Primary School	Harlan Comm	293	272	-7.2%
5	Irwin Elementary School	IKM-Manning Comm	213	212	-0.5%
6	ExiraElk Horn-Kimballton High School	Exira-Elk Horn- Kimballton Comm	196	188	-4.1%