Phillips Elementary

Located at 1701 Lay St, in Des Moines, Iowa, Phillips Elementary is an intimate elementary-level community that caters to 263 students (grades K through 5), one of the schools within Des Moines Independent Comm School District.

Phillips Elementary is one of 59 schools operated by Des Moines Independent Comm School District, a district that instructs 29,676 students overall.

Looking at the student body, Phillips Elementary shows that the most-represented group is White (49%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. Other groups include 34% Hispanic, 9% Black, 5% multiracial. That is meaningfully less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 76%.

On the resource side, The school lists 24 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 11.0:1. The state averages around 13.7:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Around 79% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. Set against Polk County (around 49%), the school's rate is noticeably above typical.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Phillips Elementary performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 52.4%, the actual is 46.9%, a residual of -5.5 points.

In the surrounding community, census data for Polk County shows the typical household earns roughly $83,576 per year, about 40% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 7%. Phillips Elementary is one of 137 public schools in Polk County (combined enrollment of about 77,436 students).

The closest other public school is Garton Elementary, roughly 0.9 miles away. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Phillips Elementary at 2nd of 8; the average score across the group is 41.1%.

The school occupies a city-core site.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count fell 22%: 339 students in 2018 compared to 263 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 64% to 49% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio pulled in from 13.8:1 in 2018 to 11.0:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, posts here usually surface around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.