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If you could change one rule at River Woods Elementary School, what would it be?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
493
Elementary
DISTRICT 347 · STATE 325
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DES MOINES INDEPENDENT COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 190897000728
River Woods Elementary School
2929 SE 22nd St, Des Moines, IA 50320 · (515) 242-8433 · Polk County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL493 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
11.5:1
43 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.3:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
87%
428 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 | 78 | 16% |
| Grade 1 | 90 | 18% |
| Grade 2 | 83 | 17% |
| Grade 3 | 79 | 16% |
| Grade 4 | 80 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 83 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (78) is 6% smaller than its 5th grade class (83).
Student demographics
70%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
50.5%
IA avg 73.6% . +6.7pp since 2023
Math
48.5%
IA avg 70.9% . +2.4pp 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 49 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 7 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 2 points.
ISASP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 50.5% | 48.5% |
| 2023-24 | 43.8% | 46.1% |
% 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
46.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
48.5%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-1.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 47% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 49% 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 River Woods Elementary School
River Woods Elementary School's state test result (46.6% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| River Woods Elementary School this school | 493 | 86.8% | 46.6% |
| Garton Elementary Des Moines | 535 | 89.3% | 43.5% |
| Jackson Elementary School Des Moines | 490 | 80.6% | 48.1% |
| Crestview School of Inquiry Clive | 558 | 84.1% | 52.0% |
| Findley Elementary School Des Moines | 324 | 85.2% | 43.9% |
| Lovejoy Elementary School Des Moines | 394 | 89.3% | 39.3% |
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 River Woods Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa | In Polk County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 46.6% | #524 of 564 | #61 of 78 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 48.5% | #526 of 564 ▲ 8 | #63 of 78 ▲ 4 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 50.5% | #511 of 564 ▲ 18 | #56 of 78 ▲ 5 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 493 | #106 of 705 | #36 of 89 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 11.5:1 | #69 of 561 | #8 of 86 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 69.7% | #51 of 561 | #21 of 86 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 86.8% | #21 of 666 | #15 of 89 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -13.5% | #171 of 359 | #33 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
493
-5 (-1%) vs 2020
+1% since 2000-01, when it was 490
Student : Teacher
11.5:1
was 12.4:1
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 | 493 | 42.8 | 11.5:1 | 87% (428) |
| 2023-24 | 505 | 43.8 | 11.5:1 | 80% (406) |
| 2022-23 | 496 | 39.2 | 12.7:1 | 90% (445) |
| 2020-21 | 498 | 40 | 12.4:1 | 89% (444) |
| 2017-18 | 570 | 40.1 | 14.2:1 | 87% (496) |
| 2015-16 | 541 | 39 | 13.9:1 | 82% (446) |
| 2010-11 | 519 | 37 | 14.0:1 | 73% (380) |
| 2000-01 | 490 | 30 | 16.3:1 | 45% (221) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for River Woods Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 14% (570 to 493); teachers up 7% (40.1 to 42.8).
About River Woods Elementary School
River Woods Elementary School is an elementary school with a street address in Des Moines, Iowa. It educates 493 students in kindergarten through 5. The school's enrollment is 52% larger than the 325 average for elementary schools in Iowa.
River Woods Elementary School is part of a district of 59 schools: Des Moines Independent Comm School District, with 29,676 students.
Enrollment at River Woods Elementary School is mixed, with Hispanic students the largest group at 47%. It is also 19% Black, 18% Asian, 12% White, and 4% multiracial. For comparison, the population of Polk County is roughly 10% Hispanic. River Woods Elementary School has a diversity index of 70%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
Its 42.8 full-time-equivalent teachers give the school a ratio of 11.5:1. That ratio is under the 13.7:1 average for elementary schools in Iowa. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility is 87%. That rate is above the 49% average among public schools in Polk County.
allk12 grades River Woods Elementary School a D. The grade compares the school only with Iowa public elementary schools, because each state gives its own test.
On the allk12 BeatsExpectations measure, River Woods Elementary School is 1.9 points below the average proficiency rate on state tests predicted for its free or reduced-price lunch share: 46.6% actual, 48.5% predicted. That is outside both the top and bottom 10% in Iowa.
Across Polk County, median household income is about $83,576, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 40% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 7%. The public schools of Polk County number 137 and enroll about 77,436.
Jackson Elementary School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 1.0 miles away. Counting only straight-line distance, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. In a group of 9 nearby schools with scores, River Woods Elementary School ranks 4th on average proficiency.
NCES describes the area around River Woods Elementary School as City: Mid-size, meaning inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
Enrollment in 2024-25 was 493, close to the 498 recorded in 2020-21.
The allk12 site hosts a discussion page for River Woods Elementary School covering things like enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
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 River Woods Elementary schools
One other US public school is named River Woods Elementary. River Woods Elementary School is the largest of the 2.
- River Woods Elementary SchoolNaperville, IL · 481 students
Nearby schools
- Jackson Elementary School1.0 mi · 490
- Weeks Middle School1.2 mi · 688
- Howe Elementary1.4 mi · 297
- McKinley Elementary School1.9 mi · 275
- Lovejoy Elementary School2.1 mi · 394
- South Union Elementary School2.1 mi · 422
Frequently asked questions
About River Woods Elementary SchoolHow large is River Woods Elementary School?
River Woods Elementary School enrolls approximately 493 students in grades KG-05.
What grades does River Woods Elementary School serve?
River Woods Elementary School serves grades KG-05.
How many teachers does River Woods Elementary School have?
River Woods Elementary School employs 43 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 11.5:1.
How diverse is River Woods Elementary School?
River Woods Elementary School reports a student body of 12% White, 47% Hispanic, 19% Black, 18% Asian, 4% Two or more.
Who oversees River Woods Elementary School?
River Woods 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.