Enrollment
275
Elementary
DISTRICT 347 · STATE 325
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DES MOINES INDEPENDENT COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 190897000559
McKinley Elementary School
1610 SE 6th Street, Des Moines, IA 50315 · (515) 242-8423 · Polk County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL275 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 14% of Iowa public elementary schools
- DTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- CBeats 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
12.0:1
23 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.3:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
87%
239 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 16 | 6% |
| Kindergarten | 37 | 13% |
| Grade 1 | 40 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 44 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 54 | 20% |
| Grade 4 | 46 | 17% |
| Grade 5 | 38 | 14% |
This year's kindergarten class (37) is about the same size as its 5th grade class (38).
Student demographics
68%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
49.6%
IA avg 73.6% . +7.8pp since 2023
Math
50.0%
IA avg 70.9% . +0.9pp since 2023
What this means: On the ISASP, Iowa's statewide test, about 50 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 50 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 8 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
ISASP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 49.6% | 50.0% |
| 2023-24 | 41.8% | 49.1% |
% 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
46.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
48.5%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-2.1pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 46% 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 McKinley Elementary School
McKinley Elementary School's state test result (46.4% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| McKinley Elementary School this school | 275 | 86.9% | 46.4% |
| Stowe Elementary School Des Moines | 297 | 84.2% | 33.8% |
| Willard Elementary School Des Moines | 247 | 88.7% | 52.1% |
| Howe Elementary Des Moines | 297 | 90.9% | 42.9% |
| Rogers Elementary School Marshalltown | 253 | 86.2% | 49.4% |
| Morris Elementary School Des Moines | 519 | 87.7% | 47.3% |
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 McKinley Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa | In Polk County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 46.4% | #526 of 564 | #62 of 78 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 50.0% | #517 of 564 ▲ 3 | #59 of 78 ▲ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 49.6% | #513 of 564 ▲ 23 | #57 of 78 ▲ 8 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 275 | #431 of 705 | #74 of 89 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.0:1 | #110 of 561 | #14 of 86 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 68.4% | #66 of 561 | #26 of 86 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 86.9% | #20 of 666 | #14 of 89 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -2.8% | #330 of 359 | #60 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
275
+11 (+4%) vs 2020
-15% since 1990-91, when it was 323
Student : Teacher
12.0:1
was 11.0:1
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 | 275 | 23 | 12.0:1 | 87% (239) |
| 2023-24 | 269 | 21.8 | 12.3:1 | 78% (210) |
| 2022-23 | 285 | 23.9 | 11.9:1 | 89% (255) |
| 2020-21 | 264 | 24 | 11.0:1 | 95% (252) |
| 2017-18 | 283 | 26.3 | 10.8:1 | 90% (254) |
| 2015-16 | 309 | 29 | 10.7:1 | 94% (292) |
| 2010-11 | 347 | 28 | 12.4:1 | 89% (310) |
| 2000-01 | 355 | 30 | 11.8:1 | 72% (255) |
| 1990-91 | 323 | 23 | 14.0:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for McKinley Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 3% (283 to 275); teachers down 13% (26.3 to 23).
About McKinley Elementary School
McKinley Elementary School is a small elementary school in Des Moines, Iowa, under Des Moines Independent Comm School District. It reports enrollment of 275 students in pre-K through 5.
McKinley Elementary School is one of 59 schools in Des Moines Independent Comm School District, which enrolls 29,676 students in total.
Hispanic students make up 47% of enrollment at McKinley Elementary School, the largest share of any group. The remaining shares are 27% White, 13% Black, 10% multiracial, and 4% Asian. Census estimates put the Hispanic share of Polk County's population at about 10%. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 68%.
On staff are 23 full-time-equivalent teachers; the student-to-teacher ratio is 12.0:1. The average for elementary schools in Iowa is 13.7:1, so this school has fewer students per teacher. About 87% of students at McKinley Elementary School are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. By comparison, the figure for public schools in Polk County is 49%.
Among Iowa public elementary schools, McKinley Elementary School outscored 14%, which works out to a D on the allk12 Grade.
McKinley Elementary School is 2.1 points below its predicted average proficiency rate across its state test results (46.4% versus 48.5%), which places it in neither the top nor the bottom 10% in Iowa.
Five-year Census Bureau estimates for Polk County show that the median household earns about $83,576 a year, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 40%, and roughly 7% of residents are in poverty. Across Polk County, 137 public schools serve about 77,436 students.
Among nearby public schools, Howe Elementary is closest at about 1.0 miles. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. The nearest schools with test data average 43.3%, lower than McKinley Elementary School's 46.4%.
The school's federal locale classification is City: Mid-size.
Enrollment was 275 in 2024-25. In 2020-21, it was 264.
People who know McKinley Elementary School can post here about open houses, carpools, and field trips. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates 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
Other McKinley Elementary schools
55 other US public schools in 19 states are named McKinley Elementary. McKinley Elementary School is the 44th largest of the 56.
- McKinley Elementary SchoolDavenport, IA · 421 students
- McKinley Elementary SchoolMuscatine, IA · 394 students
- McKinley Elementary SchoolNEWARK, NJ · 917 students
- McKinley ElementaryStockton, CA · 705 students
- McKinley ElementaryFresno, CA · 671 students
Nearby schools
- Howe Elementary1.0 mi · 297
- Lincoln High School1.3 mi · 2,364
- Weeks Middle School1.3 mi · 688
- Walnut Street School1.4 mi · 257
- Capitol View Elementary School1.5 mi · 533
- Park Ave Elementary School1.5 mi · 380
Frequently asked questions
About McKinley Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at McKinley Elementary School?
McKinley Elementary School enrolls approximately 275 students in grades PK-05.
Is McKinley Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
McKinley Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many students per teacher at McKinley Elementary School?
Approximately 12.0:1 students per teacher at McKinley Elementary School.
What is the racial breakdown of students at McKinley Elementary School?
At McKinley Elementary School, the student body is approximately 27% White, 47% Hispanic, 13% Black, 4% Asian, 10% Two or more.
Who oversees McKinley Elementary School?
McKinley Elementary School 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.