1
What tradition at Callanan Middle School should never be changed?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
553
Middle
DISTRICT 593 · STATE 400
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DES MOINES INDEPENDENT COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 190897000519
Callanan Middle School
3010 Center Street, Des Moines, IA 50312 · (515) 242-8101 · Polk County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL553 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 10% of Iowa public middle schools
- DTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Iowa public middle schools
Student : Teacher
15.8:1
35 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.7:1 · STATE 15.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
80%
442 students
DISTRICT 76% · STATE 41%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 182 | 33% |
| Grade 7 | 189 | 34% |
| Grade 8 | 182 | 33% |
Student demographics
73%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 74% · STATE 48% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
ISASP 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
51.3%
IA avg 73.6% . -5.5pp since 2023
Math
44.2%
IA avg 70.9% . -3.6pp since 2023
What this means: On the ISASP, Iowa's statewide test, about 51 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 44 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Iowa schools, those numbers are about 74 and 71. Reading and writing scores are down about 6 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 4 points.
ISASP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 51.3% | 44.2% |
| 2023-24 | 56.8% | 47.8% |
% Proficient, all students and all tested grades.
Source: ISASP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
50.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
52.0%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-2.0pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 50% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 52% typical for Iowa schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Iowa's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Callanan Middle School
Callanan Middle School's state test result (50.0% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Callanan Middle School this school | 553 | 79.9% | 50.0% |
| Central Middle School Waterloo | 469 | 85.1% | 47.5% |
| Wilson Middle School Cedar Rapids | 422 | 78.0% | 44.2% |
| Roosevelt Creative Corridor Business Academy Cedar Rapids | 484 | 71.1% | 53.1% |
| Frank L Smart Middle School Davenport | 430 | 68.8% | 30.9% |
| George Washington Carver Academy Waterloo | 455 | 90.5% | 49.8% |
Matched among Iowa middle schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Callanan Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa | In Polk County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 50.0% | #211 of 224 | #16 of 21 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 44.2% | #215 of 224 ▼ 5 | #16 of 21 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 51.3% | #214 of 224 ▼ 9 | #16 of 21 ▼ 2 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 553 | #60 of 246 | #14 of 21 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.8:1 | #143 of 180 | #14 of 21 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 72.8% | #5 of 180 | #4 of 21 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 79.9% | #10 of 237 | #7 of 21 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -8.3% | #73 of 103 | #11 of 14 |
Ranked against other public middle schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
553
-47 (-8%) vs 2020
-17% since 1990-91, when it was 663
Student : Teacher
15.8:1
was 15.8:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 553 | 35 | 15.8:1 | 80% (442) |
| 2023-24 | 543 | 32.9 | 16.5:1 | 74% (402) |
| 2022-23 | 507 | 32 | 15.8:1 | 77% (389) |
| 2020-21 | 600 | 38 | 15.8:1 | 78% (469) |
| 2017-18 | 603 | 42.1 | 14.3:1 | 79% (475) |
| 2015-16 | 561 | 43 | 13.1:1 | 78% (438) |
| 2010-11 | 607 | 37 | 16.4:1 | 70% (422) |
| 2000-01 | 602 | 45 | 13.4:1 | 56% (337) |
| 1990-91 | 663 | 46 | 14.4:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Callanan Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 8% (603 to 553); teachers down 17% (42.1 to 35).
About Callanan Middle School
Callanan Middle School is a medium-sized middle school in Iowa, with an address in Des Moines. It serves 553 students in grades 6 through 8. The average among middle schools in Iowa is roughly 400 students; this school is 38% bigger than that.
Des Moines Independent Comm School District is responsible for 59 schools, Callanan Middle School included, with 29,676 students in all.
Callanan Middle School's enrollment has no majority group, and Black students are the largest at 39%. It is also 27% White, 21% Hispanic, 9% multiracial, and 3% Asian. Polk County's residents are about 7% Black, 31 points below the school's share. By the diversity index, Callanan Middle School comes in at 73%.
With 35 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25, the ratio at Callanan Middle School was 15.8:1. Middle schools in Iowa have a similar average ratio of 15.2:1. A measure often used for student poverty, free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, stands at 80%. On average, public schools in Polk County report 49%.
Callanan Middle School is graded D by allk12, scoring above 10% of Iowa public middle schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
On BeatsExpectations, Callanan Middle School is 2.0 points below its prediction, a result in the middle 80% of Iowa schools.
Polk County has about 503,175 residents, and median household income is about $83,576, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 40% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 7%. Federal data list 137 public schools in Polk County, with a combined enrollment of about 77,436.
The next-closest public school is Ruby Van Meter, about 0.1 miles away. In all, at least 8 other public schools sit within five miles of Callanan Middle School. Its average proficiency rate of 50.0% is below the 55.8% average for nearby schools.
In the federal locale system, Callanan Middle School is coded City: Mid-size, for schools inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
Enrollment was 600 in 2020-21 and 553 in 2024-25, a decrease of 47 students.
The allk12 site hosts a discussion page for Callanan Middle School covering things like school events, clubs, and volunteer needs. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
Polk County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
503,175
Census ACS
Median income
$83,576
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
40%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
137
77,436 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Des Moines Independent Comm School District
- Lincoln High SchoolHigh · 2,364 students
- Roosevelt High SchoolHigh · 2,051 students
- East High SchoolHigh · 1,952 students
- North High SchoolHigh · 1,428 students
- Hoover High SchoolHigh · 898 students
- Weeks Middle SchoolMiddle · 688 students
Other schools in Des Moines
- Lincoln High SchoolHigh · 2,364 students
- Roosevelt High SchoolHigh · 2,051 students
- East High SchoolHigh · 1,952 students
- North High SchoolHigh · 1,428 students
- Hoover High SchoolHigh · 898 students
- Weeks Middle SchoolMiddle · 688 students
Nearby schools
- Ruby Van Meter0.1 mi · 109
- Greenwood Elementary School0.8 mi · 293
- Hubbell Elementary0.9 mi · 362
- Virtual Campus1.0 mi · 380
- Downtown School1.0 mi · 197
- Edmunds Elementary School1.0 mi · 259
Frequently asked questions
About Callanan Middle SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Callanan Middle School?
Callanan Middle School enrolls approximately 553 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does Callanan Middle School serve?
Callanan Middle School serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
How many students per teacher at Callanan Middle School?
Approximately 15.8:1 students per teacher at Callanan Middle School.
How diverse is Callanan Middle School?
Callanan Middle School reports a student body of 27% White, 21% Hispanic, 39% Black, 3% Asian, 9% Two or more.
Who oversees Callanan Middle School?
Callanan Middle School is overseen by Des Moines Independent Comm School District in Polk County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.