Brody Middle School

Brody Middle School is one of the roomy junior highs in Des Moines, Iowa, overseen by Des Moines Independent Comm School District, with 641 students on its rolls from grades 6 through 8. By comparison, Iowa's public schools average about 400 students each, so Brody Middle School sits 60% larger than that benchmark.

Des Moines Independent Comm School District comprises 59 schools with combined enrollment of 29,676 students; Brody Middle School is among them.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Brody Middle School shows that the most-represented group is White (45%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. Other groups include 30% Hispanic, 13% Black, 8% multiracial, 4% Asian. The wider county runs roughly 76% White, putting the school's mix considerably less White than the area baseline.

In terms of school funding signals, Staff filings list 39 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 16.4:1 students per teacher. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 15.2:1, putting Brody Middle School higher than the state norm the norm. Roughly 71% of students at Brody Middle School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Polk County (around 49%), the school's rate is somewhat above typical.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Brody Middle School tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 56.3% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 51.3%.

Around the school, Polk County reports that median household earnings sit near $83,576, about 40% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 7%. Brody Middle School is one of 137 public schools in Polk County (combined enrollment of about 77,436 students).

Jefferson Elementary School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.5 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Brody Middle School. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Brody Middle School at 4th of 8; the average score across the group is 56.1%.

Geographically, the school is in a high-density area.

Five-year trend. Brody Middle School's enrollment has declined 17% since 2018, when it stood at 770 (now 641). Over the same period, the White share ticked down from 55% to 45%. The student-to-teacher ratio tightened from 17.8:1 in 2018 to 16.4:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, members of the Brody Middle School community share and discuss science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.