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What's the best and worst thing about the food at Morris Elementary School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
519
Elementary
DISTRICT 347 · STATE 325
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DES MOINES INDEPENDENT COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 190897000583
Morris Elementary School
1401 Geil Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50315 · (515) 242-8421 · Polk County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL519 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
13.3:1
39 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.3:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
88%
455 students
DISTRICT 76% · STATE 41%
Community
5
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 | 83 | 16% |
| Grade 1 | 105 | 20% |
| Grade 2 | 93 | 18% |
| Grade 3 | 86 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 69 | 13% |
| Grade 5 | 83 | 16% |
This year's kindergarten class (83) is about the same size as its 5th grade class (83).
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
51.2%
IA avg 73.6% . +5.2pp since 2023
Math
51.2%
IA avg 70.9% . +2.2pp since 2023
What this means: On the ISASP, Iowa's statewide test, about 51 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 51 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 5 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 2 points.
ISASP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 51.2% | 51.2% |
| 2023-24 | 46.0% | 49.0% |
% 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
47.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
48.1%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-0.8pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 47% 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 Morris Elementary School
Morris Elementary School's state test result (47.3% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morris Elementary School this school | 519 | 87.7% | 47.3% |
| Studebaker Elementary School Des Moines | 561 | 86.3% | 42.2% |
| Unity Elementary School Sioux City | 483 | 80.3% | 49.3% |
| Stowe Elementary School Des Moines | 297 | 84.2% | 33.8% |
| Liberty Elementary School Sioux City | 659 | 84.8% | 49.0% |
| Brubaker Elementary School Des Moines | 622 | 83.3% | 38.9% |
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 Morris Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa | In Polk County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 47.3% | #520 of 564 | #58 of 78 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 51.2% | #509 of 564 ▲ 11 | #55 of 78 ▲ 6 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 51.2% | #508 of 564 ▲ 12 | #55 of 78 ▲ 3 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 519 | #91 of 705 | #33 of 89 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.3:1 | #260 of 561 | #37 of 86 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 67.8% | #71 of 561 | #27 of 86 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 87.7% | #18 of 666 | #13 of 89 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -13.5% | #170 of 359 | #32 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
519
+47 (+10%) vs 2020
+41% since 1990-91, when it was 368
Student : Teacher
13.3:1
was 11.5:1
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 | 519 | 39 | 13.3:1 | 88% (455) |
| 2023-24 | 498 | 36.6 | 13.6:1 | 82% (406) |
| 2022-23 | 444 | 35.5 | 12.5:1 | 88% (389) |
| 2020-21 | 472 | 41 | 11.5:1 | 87% (412) |
| 2017-18 | 600 | 45.9 | 13.1:1 | 86% (517) |
| 2015-16 | 579 | 46 | 12.6:1 | 85% (495) |
| 2010-11 | 602 | 48 | 12.5:1 | 78% (467) |
| 2000-01 | 316 | 25 | 12.6:1 | 40% (125) |
| 1990-91 | 368 | 28 | 13.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Morris Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 13% (600 to 519); teachers down 15% (45.9 to 39).
About Morris Elementary School
Among the schools in Des Moines, Iowa, is Morris Elementary School, a large elementary school. The school reports 519 students in kindergarten through 5. The typical figure for elementary schools in Iowa is about 325 students.
The Des Moines Independent Comm School District system has 59 schools and 29,676 students.
Hispanic students form the largest group at Morris Elementary School, 41% of enrollment. Other groups include 36% White, 13% Black, and 7% multiracial. By comparison, Polk County residents are about 10% Hispanic. By the diversity index, Morris Elementary School comes in at 68%.
Morris Elementary School operates with 39 full-time-equivalent teachers, a ratio of about 13.3:1. Elementary schools in Iowa have a similar average ratio of 13.7:1. Morris Elementary School reports 88% of students eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Compared with the 49% average for public schools in Polk County, the school's rate is higher.
Morris Elementary School is within a point of its predicted average proficiency rate on state tests (47.3% versus 48.1%), which places it in neither the top nor the bottom 10% in Iowa.
County data help place the school in context: in Polk County, median household income is about $83,576, roughly 40% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 7%. The public schools of Polk County number 137 and enroll about 77,436.
The closest other public school is Wright Elementary School, about 1.0 miles away. Around the school, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Among its closest neighbors with test data, Morris Elementary School is 4th of 8 on proficiency.
The school's federal locale classification is City: Mid-size.
A comparison of 2020-21 and 2024-25 shows enrollment up 10%, from 472 to 519. The ratio of students to teachers went from 11.5:1 to 13.3:1 over the same years.
Parents and students can post about school events, clubs, and volunteer needs at Morris Elementary School. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
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 Morris Elementary schools
5 other US public schools in 4 states are named Morris Elementary. Morris Elementary School is the 3rd largest of the 6.
- Morris ElementaryBondurant, IA · 601 students
- Morris Elementary SchoolHuntsville, AL · 532 students
- Morris Elementary SchoolMorris, OK · 442 students
- Morris Elementary SchoolMontgomery, AL · 414 students
- Morris ElementaryMcKinleyville, CA · 255 students
Nearby schools
- Wright Elementary School1.0 mi · 265
- Mitchell Early Childhood Center1.2 mi · 292
- McCombs Middle School1.2 mi · 670
- Studebaker Elementary School1.6 mi · 561
- Jefferson Elementary School1.8 mi · 312
- South Union Elementary School1.8 mi · 422
Frequently asked questions
About Morris Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Morris Elementary School?
Morris Elementary School enrolls approximately 519 students in grades KG-05.
What age range does Morris Elementary School serve?
Morris Elementary School serves students from grade KG through grade 05.
How many teachers does Morris Elementary School have?
Morris Elementary School employs 39 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 13.3:1.
What is the student diversity at Morris Elementary School?
Student demographics at Morris Elementary School are roughly 36% White, 41% Hispanic, 13% Black, 2% Asian, 7% Two or more.
What district is Morris Elementary School in?
Morris Elementary 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.