Pleasant Hill Elementary School

Pleasant Hill Elementary School is an elementary school of tight-knit scale in Des Moines, Iowa, run under Des Moines Independent Comm School District, educateing 241 students in grades pre-K through 5. Enrollment runs roughly 26% below the state mean of about 325.

Within Des Moines Independent Comm School District, which oversees 59 schools and 29,676 students, Pleasant Hill Elementary School is one campus in the system.

On demographics, Pleasant Hill Elementary School logs that 57% of the student body identifies as White; the rest looks like 25% Hispanic, 10% Black, 5% multiracial, 2% Asian. By comparison, Polk County as a whole is about 76% White, so the school skews noticeably less White than its surroundings.

Looking at the economic backdrop, On paper, Pleasant Hill Elementary School has 20 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 11.9:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 13.7:1 average. About 69% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. That share is noticeably above Polk County's rate of about 49%.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Pleasant Hill Elementary School sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 57.5%; this one delivers 61.2%.

Around the school, ACS estimates for Polk County put median household income runs about $83,576, roughly 40% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 7%. Across Polk County's 137 public schools (combined enrollment of about 77,436 students), Pleasant Hill Elementary School is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is Stowe Elementary School, roughly 2.0 miles away. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Pleasant Hill Elementary School at 2nd of 8; the average score across the group is 47.7%.

The campus sits in a bedroom-community setting.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count declined 10%: 269 students in 2018 compared to 241 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 71% to 57% across the same window. Class-load math has tightened: from 15.3:1 in 2018 to 11.9:1 in 2025.

On allk12, recent activity here tends to focus on school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. Members of the school community can share what they know.