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If you had an hour of school board time for Harding Middle School, what would you bring up?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
603
Middle
DISTRICT 593 · STATE 400
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DES MOINES INDEPENDENT COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 190897000540
Harding Middle School
203 E Euclid Ave, Des Moines, IA 50313 · (515) 242-8445 · Polk County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL603 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
15.8:1
38 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.7:1 · STATE 15.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
89%
534 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 | 192 | 32% |
| Grade 7 | 194 | 32% |
| Grade 8 | 217 | 36% |
Student demographics
75%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
42.1%
IA avg 73.6% . -1.7pp since 2023
Math
42.3%
IA avg 70.9% . +4.9pp since 2023
What this means: On the ISASP, Iowa's statewide test, about 42 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 42 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 up about 5 points.
ISASP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 42.1% | 42.3% |
| 2023-24 | 43.8% | 37.4% |
% 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
39.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
47.6%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-7.8pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 40% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 48% 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 Harding Middle School
Harding Middle School's state test result (39.9% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harding Middle School this school | 603 | 88.6% | 39.9% |
| McCombs Middle School Des Moines | 670 | 83.3% | 54.0% |
| Goodrell Middle School Des Moines | 511 | 84.7% | 42.4% |
| Weeks Middle School Des Moines | 688 | 87.4% | 42.8% |
| Hiatt Middle School Des Moines | 488 | 93.4% | 36.2% |
| Meredith Middle School Des Moines | 662 | 79.8% | 51.6% |
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 Harding Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa | In Polk County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 39.9% | #222 of 224 | #20 of 21 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 42.3% | #216 of 224 ▲ 5 | #17 of 21 ▲ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 42.1% | #223 of 224 ▼ 1 | #21 of 21 ▼ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 603 | #51 of 246 | #13 of 21 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.8:1 | #142 of 180 | #13 of 21 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 75.0% | #3 of 180 | #2 of 21 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 88.6% | #4 of 237 | #2 of 21 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -23.5% | #16 of 103 | #3 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
603
-207 (-26%) vs 2020
-24% since 1990-91, when it was 794
Student : Teacher
15.8:1
was 15.6:1
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 | 603 | 38.3 | 15.8:1 | 89% (534) |
| 2023-24 | 634 | 38.1 | 16.6:1 | 82% (519) |
| 2022-23 | 655 | 37.3 | 17.6:1 | 89% (586) |
| 2020-21 | 810 | 52 | 15.6:1 | 90% (730) |
| 2017-18 | 788 | 55.2 | 14.3:1 | 91% (719) |
| 2015-16 | 773 | 61 | 12.7:1 | 91% (700) |
| 2010-11 | 556 | 42 | 13.2:1 | 88% (488) |
| 2000-01 | 856 | 57 | 15.0:1 | 68% (584) |
| 1990-91 | 794 | 55 | 14.4:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Harding Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 23% (788 to 603); teachers down 31% (55.2 to 38.3).
About Harding Middle School
Among the schools in Des Moines, Iowa, is Harding Middle School, a large middle-grades school. It educates 603 students in grades 6 through 8. The school's enrollment is 51% larger than the 400 average for middle schools in Iowa.
Harding Middle School falls under Des Moines Independent Comm School District, which has 59 schools enrolling 29,676 students.
No single group makes up more than half of enrollment at Harding Middle School. The largest is Hispanic students, at 34%. The remaining shares are 30% Black, 16% White, 10% Asian, and 9% multiracial. Census estimates put the Hispanic share of Polk County's population at about 10%. Harding Middle School's diversity index is 75%, against a US figure of 70%.
Federal staffing data show 38.3 full-time-equivalent teachers at Harding Middle School and a ratio of 15.8:1. That matches the 15.2:1 average for middle schools in Iowa fairly closely. The count of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch equals 89% of enrollment. For comparison, public schools in Polk County average 49%.
On the allk12 BeatsExpectations measure, Harding Middle School is 7.8 points below the average proficiency rate on state tests predicted for its free or reduced-price lunch share: 39.9% actual, 47.6% predicted. That is outside both the top and bottom 10% in Iowa.
Census estimates describe Polk County this way: the median household income is $83,576, about 40% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 7%. In all, Polk County has 137 public schools and roughly 77,436 students.
The closest other public school is Great Oaks High School and Career Center, about 0.2 miles away. Within five miles are at least 8 other public schools. Its average proficiency rate of 39.9% is below the 39.9% average for nearby schools.
The school's federal locale classification is City: Mid-size.
Federal data show a 26% enrollment decrease, from 810 in 2020-21 to 603 in 2024-25.
Questions about school safety, transportation, and start times can be posted here. 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
Other Harding Middle schools
3 other US public schools in 2 states are named Harding Middle. Harding Middle School is the 3rd largest of the 4.
- Harding Middle SchoolCedar Rapids, IA · 710 students
- Harding Middle SchoolSteubenville, OH · 793 students
- Harding Middle SchoolLakewood, OH · 446 students
Nearby schools
- Great Oaks High School and Career Center0.2 mi · 72
- Findley Elementary School0.3 mi · 324
- Madison Elementary School0.6 mi · 285
- Oak Park0.6 mi · 288
- Cattell Elementary School0.6 mi · 314
- North High School0.8 mi · 1,428
Frequently asked questions
About Harding Middle SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Harding Middle School?
Harding Middle School enrolls approximately 603 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does Harding Middle School serve?
Harding Middle School serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
How many teachers does Harding Middle School have?
Harding Middle School employs 38 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 15.8:1.
What is the student diversity at Harding Middle School?
Student demographics at Harding Middle School are roughly 16% White, 34% Hispanic, 30% Black, 10% Asian, 9% Two or more.
What district is Harding Middle School in?
Harding Middle School 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.