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What advice would you give to incoming students at Hiatt Middle School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
488
Middle
DISTRICT 593 · STATE 400
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DES MOINES INDEPENDENT COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 190897000516
Hiatt Middle School
1430 E. University Ave, Des Moines, IA 50316 · (515) 242-7774 · Polk County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL488 STUDENTS
F
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 1% of Iowa public middle schools
- FTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- DBeats 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
14.1:1
35 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.7:1 · STATE 15.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
93%
456 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 | 166 | 34% |
| Grade 7 | 162 | 33% |
| Grade 8 | 160 | 33% |
Student demographics
65%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
45.2%
IA avg 73.6% . +6.8pp since 2023
Math
35.0%
IA avg 70.9% . +2.7pp since 2023
What this means: On the ISASP, Iowa's statewide test, about 45 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 35 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Iowa schools, those numbers are about 74 and 71. Reading and writing scores are up about 7 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 3 points.
ISASP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 45.2% | 35.0% |
| 2023-24 | 38.4% | 32.3% |
% 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
36.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
45.2%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-9.0pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 36% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 45% 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 Hiatt Middle School
Hiatt Middle School's state test result (36.2% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hiatt Middle School this school | 488 | 93.4% | 36.2% |
| McCombs Middle School Des Moines | 670 | 83.3% | 54.0% |
| Goodrell Middle School Des Moines | 511 | 84.7% | 42.4% |
| Harding Middle School Des Moines | 603 | 88.6% | 39.9% |
| Hoyt Middle School Des Moines | 455 | 82.6% | 42.8% |
| North Middle School Sioux City | 1,136 | 97.2% | 61.6% |
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 Hiatt Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa | In Polk County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 36.2% | #223 of 224 | #21 of 21 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 35.0% | #223 of 224 no change | #21 of 21 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 45.2% | #220 of 224 ▲ 4 | #18 of 21 ▲ 3 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 488 | #71 of 246 | #17 of 21 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.1:1 | #83 of 180 | #5 of 21 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 64.9% | #26 of 180 | #10 of 21 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 93.4% | #2 of 237 | #1 of 21 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -25.6% | #13 of 103 | #1 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
488
-120 (-20%) vs 2020
+1% since 1990-91, when it was 483
Student : Teacher
14.1:1
was 15.2:1
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 | 488 | 34.6 | 14.1:1 | 93% (456) |
| 2023-24 | 466 | 36.3 | 12.8:1 | 84% (390) |
| 2022-23 | 529 | 33.6 | 15.7:1 | 95% (502) |
| 2020-21 | 608 | 40 | 15.2:1 | 94% (569) |
| 2017-18 | 656 | 46.4 | 14.1:1 | 95% (626) |
| 2015-16 | 589 | 49 | 12.0:1 | 95% (560) |
| 2010-11 | 579 | 45 | 12.9:1 | 89% (513) |
| 2000-01 | 619 | 45 | 13.8:1 | 69% (429) |
| 1990-91 | 483 | 41 | 11.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Hiatt Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 26% (656 to 488); teachers down 25% (46.4 to 34.6).
About Hiatt Middle School
This page covers Hiatt Middle School, a medium-sized middle school in Des Moines, Iowa. The school reports 488 students in grades 6 through 8. The school's enrollment is 22% above the 400 average for middle schools in Iowa.
Des Moines Independent Comm School District runs Hiatt Middle School along with 58 other schools, enrolling 29,676 students in total.
By race and ethnicity, Hiatt Middle School is 53% Hispanic. It is also 20% Black, 13% White, 7% Asian, and 5% multiracial. For comparison, the population of Polk County is roughly 10% Hispanic. By the diversity index, Hiatt Middle School comes in at 65%.
With 34.6 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25, the ratio at Hiatt Middle School was 14.1:1. Among middle schools in Iowa, the typical ratio is 15.2:1. Hiatt Middle School's free or reduced-price lunch eligibility rate is 93%. The average for public schools in Polk County is 49%.
Hiatt Middle School is graded F by allk12, scoring above 1% of Iowa public middle schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
Hiatt Middle School's average proficiency rate on state tests of 36.2% is 9.0 points below the 45.2% the model predicts from its lunch-eligibility share.
Hiatt Middle School is located in Polk County, where median household income is about $83,576, roughly 40% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Federal data list 137 public schools in Polk County, with a combined enrollment of about 77,436.
Nearest public school: East High School, about 0.3 miles away. The five-mile area around Hiatt Middle School holds at least 8 other public schools. Local comparison: Hiatt Middle School ranks 9th of 9 nearby schools, at 36.2% versus a 43.0% average.
Its location is classified as City: Mid-size by the National Center for Education Statistics.
Hiatt Middle School had 608 students in 2020-21 and 488 in 2024-25, a 20% decrease. The student-to-teacher ratio went down from 15.2:1 to 14.1:1.
Posts about school safety, transportation, and start times are welcome on this page. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
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
- East High School0.3 mi · 1,952
- Capitol View Elementary School0.7 mi · 533
- Carver Elementary0.7 mi · 436
- Phillips Elementary1.5 mi · 263
- Moulton Elementary School1.5 mi · 465
- Cattell Elementary School1.6 mi · 314
Frequently asked questions
About Hiatt Middle SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Hiatt Middle School?
Hiatt Middle School enrolls approximately 488 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does Hiatt Middle School serve?
Hiatt Middle School serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
How many teachers does Hiatt Middle School have?
Hiatt Middle School employs 35 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 14.1:1.
What is the student diversity at Hiatt Middle School?
Student demographics at Hiatt Middle School are roughly 13% White, 53% Hispanic, 20% Black, 7% Asian, 5% Two or more.
What district is Hiatt Middle School in?
Hiatt 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.