Enrollment
314
Elementary
DISTRICT 347 · STATE 325
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DES MOINES INDEPENDENT COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 190897000521
Cattell Elementary School
3101 E 12th St, Des Moines, IA 50316 · (515) 242-8403 · Polk County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL314 STUDENTS
C
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 28% of Iowa public elementary schools
- DTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- BBeats 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 elementary schools
Student : Teacher
11.6:1
27 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.3:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
86%
271 students
DISTRICT 76% · STATE 41%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 46 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 46 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 48 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 52 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 54 | 17% |
| Grade 5 | 68 | 22% |
This year's kindergarten class (46) is 32% smaller than its 5th grade class (68).
Student demographics
76%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
49.0%
IA avg 73.6% . -10.7pp since 2023
Math
49.7%
IA avg 70.9% . -9.4pp since 2023
What this means: On the ISASP, Iowa's statewide test, about 49 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 50 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 11 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 9 points.
ISASP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 49.0% | 49.7% |
| 2023-24 | 59.7% | 59.1% |
% 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
51.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
48.8%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+3.0pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 52% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 49% 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 Cattell Elementary School
Cattell Elementary School's state test result (51.8% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cattell Elementary School this school | 314 | 86.3% | 51.8% |
| South Union Elementary School Des Moines | 422 | 84.8% | 46.6% |
| Lovejoy Elementary School Des Moines | 394 | 89.3% | 39.3% |
| Oak Park Des Moines | 288 | 78.5% | 38.9% |
| Howe Elementary Des Moines | 297 | 90.9% | 42.9% |
| Findley Elementary School Des Moines | 324 | 85.2% | 43.9% |
Matched among Iowa elementary 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 Cattell Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa | In Polk County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 51.8% | #496 of 564 | #52 of 78 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 49.7% | #521 of 564 ▼ 47 | #61 of 78 ▼ 11 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 49.0% | #517 of 564 ▼ 78 | #59 of 78 ▼ 14 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 314 | #346 of 705 | #63 of 89 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 11.6:1 | #78 of 561 | #9 of 86 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 75.8% | #10 of 561 | #6 of 86 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 86.3% | #22 of 666 | #16 of 89 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -23.4% | #70 of 359 | #13 of 64 |
Ranked against other public elementary 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
314
-79 (-20%) vs 2020
-12% since 1990-91, when it was 357
Student : Teacher
11.6:1
was 12.7:1
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 | 314 | 27 | 11.6:1 | 86% (271) |
| 2023-24 | 308 | 29.1 | 10.6:1 | 79% (243) |
| 2022-23 | 322 | 29.1 | 11.1:1 | 85% (273) |
| 2020-21 | 393 | 31 | 12.7:1 | 90% (353) |
| 2017-18 | 410 | 30.8 | 13.3:1 | 88% (361) |
| 2015-16 | 388 | 32 | 12.1:1 | 90% (348) |
| 2010-11 | 405 | 30 | 13.5:1 | 86% (349) |
| 2000-01 | 478 | 30 | 15.9:1 | 52% (249) |
| 1990-91 | 357 | 24 | 14.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Cattell Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 23% (410 to 314); teachers down 12% (30.8 to 27).
About Cattell Elementary School
Students in Des Moines, Iowa, attend Cattell Elementary School, a mid-sized elementary school. It is open to students in kindergarten through 5 and enrolls 314 students.
Within Des Moines Independent Comm School District, Cattell Elementary School is one of 59 schools. The district enrolls 29,676 students.
The student body at Cattell Elementary School has no majority group. Hispanic students lead at 32%. Other groups make up 28% White, 21% Black, 9% Asian, and 9% multiracial. Polk County as a whole is about 10% Hispanic, so the school's share is higher. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 76, compared with 70 nationally.
Staffing at Cattell Elementary School comes to 27 full-time-equivalent teachers, or 11.6:1. Elementary schools in Iowa have an average ratio of 13.7:1. On the income side, 86% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Public schools in Polk County average 49%.
Among Iowa public elementary schools, Cattell Elementary School outscored 28%, which works out to a C on the allk12 Grade.
Cattell Elementary School posts an average proficiency rate across its state test results of 51.8%, compared with a predicted 48.8%. It is not in the top or bottom 10% of Iowa schools on BeatsExpectations.
The county, Polk County, is where the school is located. The median household earns about $83,576 a year, 40% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 7% of people live in poverty. Polk County has 137 public schools with about 77,436 students, including Cattell Elementary School.
Cattell Elementary School's nearest public school is Madison Elementary School (about 0.6 miles). There are at least 8 more public schools inside five miles. Cattell Elementary School places 1st of 9 on proficiency among the closest schools that report scores.
Federal records code the school's setting as City: Mid-size.
From 2020-21 to 2024-25, enrollment decreased from 393 to 314, a 20% decline. In 2020-21, the student-to-teacher ratio was 12.7:1; by 2024-25 it was 11.6:1.
Anyone can start a thread about open houses, carpools, and field trips at Cattell Elementary School. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
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
- Madison Elementary School0.6 mi · 285
- Harding Middle School0.6 mi · 603
- Findley Elementary School0.7 mi · 324
- Great Oaks High School and Career Center0.8 mi · 72
- North High School1.1 mi · 1,428
- Oak Park1.3 mi · 288
Frequently asked questions
About Cattell Elementary SchoolHow large is Cattell Elementary School?
Cattell Elementary School enrolls approximately 314 students in grades KG-05.
Is Cattell Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Cattell Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades KG-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Cattell Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Cattell Elementary School is approximately 11.6:1 (27 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Cattell Elementary School?
At Cattell Elementary School, the student body is approximately 28% White, 32% Hispanic, 21% Black, 9% Asian, 9% Two or more.
Is Cattell Elementary School public or private?
Cattell Elementary School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Des Moines Independent Comm School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.