Enrollment
312
Elementary
DISTRICT 347 · STATE 325
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DES MOINES INDEPENDENT COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 190897000539
Hanawalt Elementary
225 56th Street, Des Moines, IA 50312 · (515) 242-8411 · Polk County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL312 STUDENTS
C
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 29% of Iowa public elementary schools
- CTest 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 elementary schools
Student : Teacher
13.0:1
24 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.3:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
49%
154 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 | 45 | 14% |
| Grade 1 | 42 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 57 | 18% |
| Grade 3 | 60 | 19% |
| Grade 4 | 53 | 17% |
| Grade 5 | 55 | 18% |
This year's kindergarten class (45) is 18% smaller than its 5th grade class (55).
Student demographics
60%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
59.9%
IA avg 73.6% . -9.3pp since 2023
Math
69.7%
IA avg 70.9% . -2.9pp since 2023
What this means: On the ISASP, Iowa's statewide test, about 60 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 70 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 9 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 3 points.
ISASP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 59.9% | 69.7% |
| 2023-24 | 69.2% | 72.6% |
% 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
65.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
67.3%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-1.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 66% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 67% 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 Hanawalt Elementary
Hanawalt Elementary's state test result (65.9% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hanawalt Elementary this school | 312 | 49.4% | 65.9% |
| Longfellow Elementary School Iowa City | 325 | 53.5% | 64.0% |
| Black Hawk Elementary School Burlington | 305 | 53.8% | 60.5% |
| McKinley Elementary School Davenport | 421 | 47.7% | 61.0% |
| Greenwood Elementary School Des Moines | 293 | 46.4% | 66.7% |
| Grant Wood Elementary School Bettendorf | 433 | 47.3% | 68.9% |
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 Hanawalt Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa | In Polk County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 65.9% | #392 of 564 | #42 of 78 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 69.7% | #387 of 564 ▼ 44 | #39 of 78 ▼ 7 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 59.9% | #452 of 564 ▼ 139 | #48 of 78 ▼ 11 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 312 | #350 of 705 | #64 of 89 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.0:1 | #226 of 561 | #31 of 86 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 60.5% | #133 of 561 | #42 of 86 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 49.4% | #229 of 666 | #46 of 89 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -9.0% | #235 of 359 | #42 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
312
-28 (-8%) vs 2020
-11% since 1990-91, when it was 352
Student : Teacher
13.0:1
was 14.2:1
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 | 312 | 24 | 13.0:1 | 49% (154) |
| 2023-24 | 317 | 26.5 | 12.0:1 | 46% (147) |
| 2022-23 | 333 | 25.9 | 12.9:1 | 49% (162) |
| 2020-21 | 340 | 24 | 14.2:1 | 51% (172) |
| 2017-18 | 343 | 25.6 | 13.4:1 | 50% (172) |
| 2015-16 | 362 | 26 | 13.9:1 | 55% (199) |
| 2010-11 | 358 | 25 | 14.3:1 | 27% (98) |
| 2000-01 | 331 | 22 | 15.1:1 | 14% (45) |
| 1990-91 | 352 | 21 | 16.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Hanawalt Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 9% (343 to 312); teachers down 6% (25.6 to 24).
About Hanawalt Elementary
Hanawalt Elementary is a medium-sized elementary school that serves part of Des Moines, Iowa. The grade span is kindergarten through 5, and enrollment is 312 students.
Des Moines Independent Comm School District counts 29,676 students in its 59 schools, and Hanawalt Elementary is one of them.
By race and ethnicity, Hanawalt Elementary is 55% White. Other reported shares: 26% Black, 13% Hispanic, and 4% multiracial. That compares with about 76% White among all Polk County residents. Hanawalt Elementary has a diversity index of 60%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
Federal records show a student-to-teacher ratio of 13.0:1 at Hanawalt Elementary, with 24 full-time-equivalent teachers. Among elementary schools in Iowa, the typical ratio is 13.7:1. The count of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch equals 49% of enrollment. Across public schools in Polk County, the average is about the same, 49%.
Hanawalt Elementary is graded C by allk12, scoring above 29% of Iowa public elementary schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
On the allk12 BeatsExpectations measure, Hanawalt Elementary is 1.4 points below the average proficiency rate on state tests predicted for its free or reduced-price lunch share: 65.9% actual, 67.3% predicted. That is outside both the top and bottom 10% in Iowa.
In the county around the school, Polk County, median household income is about $83,576, about 40% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 7%. A total of 137 public schools operate in Polk County, serving about 77,436 students.
Merrill Middle School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.3 miles away. Counting only straight-line distance, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Of 8 schools in the immediate area with test results, Hanawalt Elementary ranks 5th on average proficiency.
Hanawalt Elementary is inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000, a location NCES labels City: Mid-size.
Between 2020-21 and 2024-25, the student count declined from 340 to 312. In 2020-21, the student-to-teacher ratio was 14.2:1; by 2024-25 it was 13.0:1.
Posts about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater are welcome on this page. 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
- Merrill Middle School0.3 mi · 657
- Hillside Elementary School1.0 mi · 548
- Roosevelt High School1.2 mi · 2,051
- Walnut Creek Campus1.2 mi · 152
- Hubbell Elementary1.3 mi · 362
- Greenwood Elementary School1.3 mi · 293
Frequently asked questions
About Hanawalt ElementaryHow many students attend Hanawalt Elementary?
Hanawalt Elementary enrolls approximately 312 students in grades KG-05.
What grades does Hanawalt Elementary serve?
Hanawalt Elementary serves grades KG-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Hanawalt Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Hanawalt Elementary is approximately 13.0:1 (24 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Hanawalt Elementary?
At Hanawalt Elementary, the student body is approximately 55% White, 13% Hispanic, 26% Black, 1% Asian, 4% Two or more.
What district is Hanawalt Elementary in?
Hanawalt Elementary is part of Des Moines Independent Comm School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.