1
Which teacher or staff member at Garton Elementary deserves more recognition?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
535
Elementary
DISTRICT 347 · STATE 325
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DES MOINES INDEPENDENT COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 190897000534
Garton Elementary
2820 E 24th St, Des Moines, IA 50317 · (515) 242-8408 · Polk County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL535 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
14.9:1
36 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.3:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
89%
478 students
DISTRICT 76% · STATE 41%
Community
5
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 40 | 7% |
| Kindergarten | 85 | 16% |
| Grade 1 | 76 | 14% |
| Grade 2 | 81 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 90 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 71 | 13% |
| Grade 5 | 92 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (85) is 8% smaller than its 5th grade class (92).
Student demographics
71%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
39.6%
IA avg 73.6% . -1.5pp since 2023
Math
50.7%
IA avg 70.9% . -6.7pp since 2023
What this means: On the ISASP, Iowa's statewide test, about 40 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 51 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 2 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 7 points.
ISASP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 39.6% | 50.7% |
| 2023-24 | 41.1% | 57.4% |
% 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
43.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
47.3%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-3.8pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 43% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 47% 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 Garton Elementary
Garton Elementary's state test result (43.5% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garton Elementary this school | 535 | 89.3% | 43.5% |
| Jackson Elementary School Des Moines | 490 | 80.6% | 48.1% |
| South Union Elementary School Des Moines | 422 | 84.8% | 46.6% |
| Crestview School of Inquiry Clive | 558 | 84.1% | 52.0% |
| Lovejoy Elementary School Des Moines | 394 | 89.3% | 39.3% |
| Howe Elementary Des Moines | 297 | 90.9% | 42.9% |
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 Garton Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa | In Polk County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 43.5% | #537 of 564 | #65 of 78 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 50.7% | #514 of 564 ▼ 28 | #58 of 78 ▼ 5 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 39.6% | #554 of 564 ▼ 13 | #73 of 78 ▼ 6 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 535 | #82 of 705 | #26 of 89 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.9:1 | #438 of 561 | #61 of 86 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 71.0% | #36 of 561 | #17 of 86 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 89.3% | #12 of 666 | #8 of 89 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -17.7% | #118 of 359 | #21 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
535
+37 (+7%) vs 2020
+11% since 1990-91, when it was 481
Student : Teacher
14.9:1
was 11.1:1
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 | 535 | 36 | 14.9:1 | 89% (478) |
| 2023-24 | 429 | 36.1 | 11.9:1 | 78% (333) |
| 2022-23 | 455 | 38.2 | 11.9:1 | 88% (400) |
| 2020-21 | 498 | 45 | 11.1:1 | 87% (433) |
| 2017-18 | 650 | 51 | 12.8:1 | 86% (560) |
| 2015-16 | 612 | 51 | 12.0:1 | 86% (526) |
| 2010-11 | 560 | 44 | 12.7:1 | 82% (459) |
| 2000-01 | 394 | 30 | 13.1:1 | 53% (209) |
| 1990-91 | 481 | 33 | 14.6:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Garton Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 18% (650 to 535); teachers down 29% (51 to 36).
About Garton Elementary
Garton Elementary is a large elementary school with its address in Des Moines, Iowa. In all, 535 students attend the school in pre-K through 5. That is 65% larger than the average of about 325 students for elementary schools in Iowa.
The 59 schools in Des Moines Independent Comm School District enroll 29,676 students altogether, Garton Elementary among them.
About 45% of students at Garton Elementary are Hispanic, the largest single group. Other reported shares: 19% White, 18% Black, 11% Asian, and 7% multiracial. Polk County's residents are about 10% Hispanic, 35 points below the school's share. A diversity index of 71% means there is a 71% chance two randomly chosen students at Garton Elementary are from different groups.
The student-to-teacher ratio is 14.9:1. The school has 36 full-time-equivalent teachers. The gap from the 13.7:1 average for elementary schools in Iowa is 1.1 students per teacher. In all, 89% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. That is 40 points above the 49% average for public schools in Polk County.
Garton Elementary's actual average proficiency rate across its state test results (43.5%) and its predicted rate (47.3%) put it outside the top and bottom 10% of Iowa schools.
Census data for Polk County show median household income comes to about $83,576, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 40%, and about 7% of people live in poverty. There are 137 public schools in the county, enrolling about 77,436, Garton Elementary among them.
Straight-line distance to the nearest public school, Goodrell Middle School, is about 0.6 miles. There are at least 8 other public schools within five miles. On state test proficiency, Garton Elementary ranks 4th in a group of 8 nearby schools.
Garton Elementary falls in the City: Mid-size locale category, used for schools inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
Federal enrollment counts increased from 498 (2020-21) to 535 (2024-25). Over the same period, the student-to-teacher ratio increased to 14.9:1, from 11.1:1.
Parents, students, and staff can share information on special education services, counseling, and support programs here. 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
- Goodrell Middle School0.6 mi · 511
- Phillips Elementary0.9 mi · 263
- Cattell Elementary School1.6 mi · 314
- Stowe Elementary School1.7 mi · 297
- Madison Elementary School1.9 mi · 285
- McKee Elementary School1.9 mi · 235
Frequently asked questions
About Garton ElementaryWhat is the total enrollment at Garton Elementary?
Garton Elementary enrolls approximately 535 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does Garton Elementary serve?
Garton Elementary serves grades PK-05.
How many teachers does Garton Elementary have?
Garton Elementary employs 36 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 14.9:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Garton Elementary?
At Garton Elementary, the student body is approximately 19% White, 45% Hispanic, 18% Black, 11% Asian, 7% Two or more.
Who oversees Garton Elementary?
Garton Elementary 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.