Brubaker Elementary School

Brubaker Elementary School, a large elementary campus in Des Moines, Iowa, one of the schools within Des Moines Independent Comm School District, works with 622 students, covering grades K through 5. That puts it 91% above the typical public school in Iowa, which averages around 325 students.

Across the 59 schools in Des Moines Independent Comm School District (29,676 students total), Brubaker Elementary School accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

In terms of who attends, Brubaker Elementary School shows that the most-represented group is White (37%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. The remainder breaks down as 30% Hispanic, 20% Black, 8% multiracial, 4% Asian. The wider county runs roughly 76% White, putting the school's mix visibly less White than the area baseline.

On the income-and-resources front, On paper, Brubaker Elementary School has 52 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 12.1:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 13.7:1 average. An estimated 83% of students are eligible 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 north of typical.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), On a poverty-adjusted basis, Brubaker Elementary School sits in the bottom 10% statewide. Predicted proficiency from the FRL regression is roughly 50.3%; actual is 38.9%, a gap of -11.4 points.

Around the school, ACS estimates for Polk County put the typical household earns roughly $83,576 per year, about 40% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and roughly 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Brubaker Elementary School is one of 137 public schools in Polk County (combined enrollment of about 77,436 students).

Nearest neighbor: Hoyt Middle School, around 0.1 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Brubaker Elementary School. Among the 8 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Brubaker Elementary School ranks 7th on composite proficiency, below the local average of 49.7%.

The campus sits in a city-core setting.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count decreased 12%: 709 students in 2018 compared to 622 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 50% to 37% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio tightened from 13.2:1 in 2018 to 12.1:1 today.

Within the allk12 community for this school, the feed for Brubaker Elementary School typically covers sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.