Enrollment
394
Elementary
DISTRICT 347 · STATE 325
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DES MOINES INDEPENDENT COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 190897000552
Lovejoy Elementary School
801 E Kenyon Ave, Des Moines, IA 50315 · (515) 242-8419 · Polk County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL394 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 5% of Iowa public elementary 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 elementary schools
Student : Teacher
12.1:1
33 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.3:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
89%
352 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 | 63 | 16% |
| Grade 1 | 72 | 18% |
| Grade 2 | 68 | 17% |
| Grade 3 | 68 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 61 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 62 | 16% |
This year's kindergarten class (63) is about the same size as its 5th grade class (62).
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
40.4%
IA avg 73.6% . +2.0pp since 2023
Math
41.0%
IA avg 70.9% . -2.0pp 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 41 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 2 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 2 points.
ISASP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 40.4% | 41.0% |
| 2023-24 | 38.4% | 43.0% |
% 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
39.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
47.3%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-7.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 39% 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 Lovejoy Elementary School
Lovejoy Elementary School's state test result (39.3% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lovejoy Elementary School this school | 394 | 89.3% | 39.3% |
| South Union Elementary School Des Moines | 422 | 84.8% | 46.6% |
| Cattell Elementary School Des Moines | 314 | 86.3% | 51.8% |
| Findley Elementary School Des Moines | 324 | 85.2% | 43.9% |
| Jackson Elementary School Des Moines | 490 | 80.6% | 48.1% |
| Garton Elementary Des Moines | 535 | 89.3% | 43.5% |
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 Lovejoy Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa | In Polk County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 39.3% | #551 of 564 | #72 of 78 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 41.0% | #553 of 564 ▼ 8 | #73 of 78 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 40.4% | #552 of 564 ▼ 6 | #72 of 78 ▼ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 394 | #229 of 705 | #52 of 89 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.1:1 | #130 of 561 | #20 of 86 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 75.1% | #14 of 561 | #8 of 86 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 89.3% | #13 of 666 | #9 of 89 |
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
394
+16 (+4%) vs 2020
+39% since 1990-91, when it was 283
Student : Teacher
12.1:1
was 11.8:1
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 | 394 | 32.5 | 12.1:1 | 89% (352) |
| 2023-24 | 412 | 31.8 | 13.0:1 | 82% (338) |
| 2022-23 | 365 | 31.8 | 11.5:1 | 89% (326) |
| 2020-21 | 378 | 32 | 11.8:1 | 91% (343) |
| 2017-18 | 394 | 32.1 | 12.3:1 | 90% (354) |
| 2015-16 | 389 | 31 | 12.6:1 | 92% (358) |
| 2010-11 | 322 | 28 | 11.5:1 | 82% (265) |
| 2000-01 | 405 | 31 | 13.1:1 | 64% (260) |
| 1990-91 | 283 | 13 | 21.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Lovejoy Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students unchanged (394 to 394); teachers up 1% (32.1 to 32.5).
About Lovejoy Elementary School
Among the schools in Des Moines, Iowa, is Lovejoy Elementary School, a mid-sized elementary school. It reports enrollment of 394 students in kindergarten through 5. Across elementary schools in Iowa, the average enrollment is about 325.
Enrollment across the 59 schools in Des Moines Independent Comm School District totals 29,676 students.
About 34% of students at Lovejoy Elementary School are Hispanic, the largest single group. Beyond that, enrollment is 27% Black, 22% White, 11% Asian, and 6% multiracial. The Hispanic share of the county population is lower, at 10%. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 75%.
Staffing at Lovejoy Elementary School comes to 32.5 full-time-equivalent teachers, or 12.1:1. By comparison, the average for elementary schools in Iowa is 13.7:1. Lovejoy Elementary School counts 89% of students as eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That is 40 points above the 49% average for public schools in Polk County.
Lovejoy Elementary School holds a D allk12 Grade, placing it above 5% of Iowa public elementary schools.
Lovejoy Elementary School's actual average proficiency rate across its state test results (39.3%) and its predicted rate (47.3%) put it outside the top and bottom 10% of Iowa schools.
Polk County is the school's county. There, 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. Polk County's 137 public schools enroll about 77,436 students and include Lovejoy Elementary School.
Lovejoy Elementary School's closest public school neighbor is Mitchell Early Childhood Center, about 0.8 miles away. The five-mile area around Lovejoy Elementary School holds at least 8 other public schools. Ranking the closest schools with test data puts Lovejoy Elementary School at 8th of 8.
The NCES locale for Lovejoy Elementary School is City: Mid-size, which covers schools inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
Enrollment figures show a rise of 16 students from 2020-21 to 2024-25.
This page is a place to ask questions and share updates about open houses, carpools, and field trips at Lovejoy Elementary School. Members of the school community can share what they know.
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 Lovejoy Elementary schools
2 other US public schools in 2 states are named Lovejoy Elementary. Lovejoy Elementary School is the largest of the 3.
- Lovejoy Elementary SchoolAlton, IL · 230 students
- Lovejoy Elementary SchoolLovejoy, IL · 67 students
Nearby schools
- Mitchell Early Childhood Center0.8 mi · 292
- South Union Elementary School1.0 mi · 422
- Jackson Elementary School1.1 mi · 490
- Weeks Middle School1.4 mi · 688
- Studebaker Elementary School1.6 mi · 561
- McCombs Middle School1.6 mi · 670
Frequently asked questions
About Lovejoy Elementary SchoolHow large is Lovejoy Elementary School?
Lovejoy Elementary School enrolls approximately 394 students in grades KG-05.
Is Lovejoy Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Lovejoy Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades KG-05.
How many teachers does Lovejoy Elementary School have?
Lovejoy Elementary School employs 33 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 12.1:1.
What is the student diversity at Lovejoy Elementary School?
Student demographics at Lovejoy Elementary School are roughly 22% White, 34% Hispanic, 27% Black, 11% Asian, 6% Two or more.
Is Lovejoy Elementary School public or private?
Lovejoy 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.