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What do you wish you knew before starting at Perkins Elementary School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
438
Elementary
DISTRICT 347 · STATE 325
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DES MOINES INDEPENDENT COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 190897000570
Perkins Elementary School
4301 College, Des Moines, IA 50311 · (515) 242-8430 · Polk County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL438 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
15.0:1
29 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.3:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
63%
275 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 | 67 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 63 | 14% |
| Grade 2 | 80 | 18% |
| Grade 3 | 71 | 16% |
| Grade 4 | 69 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 88 | 20% |
This year's kindergarten class (67) is 24% smaller than its 5th grade class (88).
Student demographics
72%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
60.0%
IA avg 73.6% . -9.2pp since 2023
Math
61.9%
IA avg 70.9% . -6.3pp since 2023
What this means: On the ISASP, Iowa's statewide test, about 60 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 62 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 9 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 6 points.
ISASP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 60.0% | 61.9% |
| 2023-24 | 69.2% | 68.2% |
% 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
63.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
60.5%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+3.4pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 64% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 61% 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 Perkins Elementary School
Perkins Elementary School's state test result (63.9% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Perkins Elementary School this school | 438 | 62.8% | 63.9% |
| Clive Learning Academy Des Moines | 551 | 59.7% | 70.1% |
| Mitchell Elementary School Ames | 314 | 55.7% | 72.5% |
| Truman Elementary School Davenport | 434 | 58.3% | 53.1% |
| McKee Elementary School Des Moines | 235 | 66.0% | N/A |
| Hillside Elementary School West Des Moines | 548 | 71.7% | 61.7% |
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 Perkins Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa | In Polk County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 63.9% | #427 of 564 | #43 of 78 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 61.9% | #464 of 564 ▼ 57 | #48 of 78 ▼ 5 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 60.0% | #450 of 564 ▼ 136 | #47 of 78 ▼ 9 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 438 | #165 of 705 | #42 of 89 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.0:1 | #453 of 561 | #65 of 86 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 71.5% | #29 of 561 | #15 of 86 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 62.8% | #109 of 666 | #37 of 89 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -2.9% | #328 of 359 | #59 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
438
+43 (+11%) vs 2020
+21% since 1990-91, when it was 363
Student : Teacher
15.0:1
was 14.1:1
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 | 438 | 29.1 | 15.0:1 | 63% (275) |
| 2023-24 | 444 | 29.3 | 15.2:1 | 56% (247) |
| 2022-23 | 438 | 28.1 | 15.6:1 | 61% (267) |
| 2020-21 | 395 | 28 | 14.1:1 | 58% (228) |
| 2017-18 | 451 | 30.6 | 14.7:1 | 58% (263) |
| 2015-16 | 482 | 30 | 16.1:1 | 59% (286) |
| 2010-11 | 461 | 31 | 14.9:1 | 62% (288) |
| 2000-01 | 315 | 27 | 11.7:1 | 62% (195) |
| 1990-91 | 363 | 25 | 14.5:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Perkins Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 3% (451 to 438); teachers down 5% (30.6 to 29.1).
About Perkins Elementary School
Perkins Elementary School is an elementary school in Des Moines, Iowa, reachable at (515) 242-8430. Students in kindergarten through 5 attend the school, which enrolls 438 students. The average among elementary schools in Iowa is roughly 325 students; this school is 35% larger than that.
Des Moines Independent Comm School District has 29,676 students spread across 59 schools.
At Perkins Elementary School, the largest share of students is White, at 43%. The remaining shares are 22% Hispanic, 19% Black, 10% multiracial, and 5% Asian. Polk County as a whole is about 76% White, so the school's share is lower. Perkins Elementary School's diversity index is 72%, against a US figure of 70%.
Teacher staffing is 29.1 full-time equivalents, or about 15.0 students per teacher. On average, elementary schools in Iowa have 13.7:1, compared with 15.0:1 here. About 63% of students, or 275, qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. It compares with 49% for public schools in Polk County.
The allk12 BeatsExpectations score for Perkins Elementary School is +3.4 points: 63.9% actual, 60.5% predicted.
Across Polk County, the median household income is $83,576, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 40%, and about 7% of people live in poverty. In all, Polk County has 137 public schools and roughly 77,436 students.
Of nearby public schools, Horizon Science Academy Des Moines is the closest, at about 0.5 miles. In all, at least 8 other public schools sit within five miles of Perkins Elementary School. In a group of 9 nearby schools with scores, Perkins Elementary School ranks 3rd on average proficiency.
By NCES locale, the school is City: Mid-size, or inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
Perkins Elementary School's enrollment grew from 395 in 2020-21 to 438 in 2024-25.
Posts about school events, clubs, and volunteer needs are welcome on this page. 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 Perkins Elementary schools
3 other US public schools in 4 states are named Perkins Elementary. Perkins Elementary School is the 2nd largest of the 4.
- PERKINS ELEMENTARY SCHOOLST PETERSBURG, FL · 561 students
- PERKINS ELEMENTARY SCHOOLNEWARK, NY · 266 students
- Perkins Elementary SchoolSouth Boston, MA · 167 students
Nearby schools
- Horizon Science Academy Des Moines0.5 mi · 150
- Monroe Elementary School1.0 mi · 341
- Hillis Elementary School1.0 mi · 279
- Roosevelt High School1.1 mi · 2,051
- Hubbell Elementary1.1 mi · 362
- Windsor Elementary1.3 mi · 254
Frequently asked questions
About Perkins Elementary SchoolHow large is Perkins Elementary School?
Perkins Elementary School enrolls approximately 438 students in grades KG-05.
What age range does Perkins Elementary School serve?
Perkins Elementary School serves students from grade KG through grade 05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Perkins Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Perkins Elementary School is approximately 15.0:1 (29 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Perkins Elementary School?
Perkins Elementary School reports a student body of 43% White, 22% Hispanic, 19% Black, 5% Asian, 10% Two or more.
What district is Perkins Elementary School in?
Perkins 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.