Schools · Des Moines
Des Moines, IA schools
Des Moines’s public schools score well below Iowa’s averages: 46% of students are proficient in reading against 67.8% statewide, and 77% of high schoolers graduate on time against 91.4%. Kids attend Wright Elementary School or Downtown School.
Grades, test scores, graduation, spending and every school, from U.S. Department of Education data.
TownTapestry School GradeNew
D−
Des Moines’s School Grade: D-
The public schools Des Moines’s kids attend, from kindergarten through graduation, trail 99% of Iowa’s districts on state tests and graduation. Among towns with similar incomes, they rank near the bottom.
D-Test scoresD-Graduation
Iowa school districts we grade (325)Better than 1%
Lower resultsHigher results
Iowa towns with similar household incomes (637)Better than 0%
High confidence. Built on 17,685 tested students and a graduating class of 2,348; ordinary year-to-year swings are unlikely to change the grade.
How the School Grade works
- Results, not inputs. Math and reading proficiency on Iowa’s state tests, each against the state average, plus the four-year graduation rate. Spending and class size are shown below but don’t count toward the grade. Tests: 2020–21; graduation: class of 2020.
- The whole path. A town’s grade follows its kids: every district that serves it, weighted by the number of students tested in each. Tests count 60% and graduation 40%.
- Graded within the state. Each state writes its own tests, so districts are lined up against the rest of Iowa only. A+ top 5%A next 10%A- next 10%B B+ to B−, next 30%C C+ to C−, next 30%D D and D−, bottom 15%
- Individual schools are graded the same way on their own test results, against every public school in Iowa with 25+ students. Private schools aren’t graded: they don’t take the state tests.
- What a grade can’t tell you. Test results track family income closely, so a high grade partly reflects who lives in a town. That’s why we also compare towns with similar incomes. Visit, ask other parents, and read neighbor reviews. It’s our own summary of U.S. Department of Education data, not an official rating.
School path
Where Des Moines kids go to school
Grades K–5
DWright Elementary School or B+Downtown School
Depends on your address Des Moines Independent Community School DistrictBased on district boundaries from the U.S. Department of Education. Check with the district before you enroll.
Test scores · 2020–21
Well below the state in reading
Reading (grades K–5, Des Moines Independent Community)46%
State average 67.8%
Math (grades K–5, Des Moines Independent Community)43%
State average 64.1%
Graduation · class of 2020
77% graduate on time
Graduation rate
77%
IA: 91.4%
Graduating class
2,348
students
The share of students who started ninth grade together and earned a regular diploma within four years. #119 of 121 IA towns →
Districts
The district serving Des Moines
Each district’s own page has its spending, test scores, enrollment and every school.
Colleges
Des Moines is home to 3 colleges
Drake UniversityUniversity or college · Private nonprofit · Des Moines4,094on campusGrand View UniversityUniversity or college · Private nonprofit · Des Moines1,522on campusMercy College of Health SciencesUniversity or college · Private nonprofit · Des Moines668on campus
All 3 colleges in Des Moines →Every school
All 71 schools in Des Moines
Showing 1–30 of 71 schools
Brubaker Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades K–5 · 622 students
DPublicStudebaker Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades K–5 · 561 students
D-PublicGarton ElementaryElementary · Grades PK–5 · 535 students
D-PublicCapitol View Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades PK–5 · 533 students
D-PublicMorris Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades K–5 · 519 students
DPublicRiver Woods Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades K–5 · 493 students
DPublicJackson Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades PK–5 · 490 students
DPublicMoulton Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades PK–5 · 465 students
D-PublicDelaware ElementaryElementary · Grades PK–5 · 440 students
APublicPerkins Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades K–5 · 438 students
C+PublicCarver ElementaryElementary · Grades PK–5 · 436 students
D-PublicSouth Union Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades K–5 · 422 students
D-PublicLovejoy Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades K–5 · 394 students
D-PublicSamuelson Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades K–5 · 386 students
DPublicPark Ave Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades K–5 · 380 students
DPublicHubbell ElementaryElementary · Grades K–5 · 362 students
C+PublicMonroe Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades K–5 · 341 students
D-PublicFindley Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades K–6 · 324 students
DPublicKing Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades K–5 · 315 students
D-PublicCattell Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades K–5 · 314 students
DPublicHanawalt ElementaryElementary · Grades K–5 · 312 students
CPublicJefferson Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades PK–5 · 312 students
C+PublicHowe ElementaryElementary · Grades K–5 · 297 students
DPublicStowe Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades K–5 · 297 students
D-PublicGreenwood Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades PK–5 · 293 students
CPublicOak ParkElementary · Grades K–5 · 288 students
D-PublicMadison Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades PK–5 · 285 students
D-PublicMoore Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades K–5 · 285 students
C-PublicHillis Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades K–5 · 279 students
DPublicMcKinley Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades PK–5 · 275 students
D-PublicSchool data from the U.S. Department of Education (NCES). Ratings are from neighbors on TownTapestry.