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What's something Walnut Hills Elementary School does better than most schools?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
708
Elementary
DISTRICT 560 · STATE 325
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WAUKEE COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 193051000958
Walnut Hills Elementary School
4240 156th St, Urbandale, IA 50323 · (515) 987-3585 · Dallas County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL708 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 88% of Iowa public elementary schools
- A+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- BBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
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
17.3:1
41 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.5:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
7%
50 students
DISTRICT 19% · STATE 41%
Community
6
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 | 99 | 14% |
| Grade 1 | 97 | 14% |
| Grade 2 | 111 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 123 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 140 | 20% |
| Grade 5 | 138 | 19% |
This year's kindergarten class (99) is 28% smaller than its 5th grade class (138).
Student demographics
39%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 52% · 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
92.4%
IA avg 73.6% . +3.0pp since 2023
Math
95.2%
IA avg 70.9% . -0.5pp since 2023
What this means: On the ISASP, Iowa's statewide test, about 92 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 95 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 3 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
ISASP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 92.4% | 95.2% |
| 2023-24 | 89.4% | 95.7% |
% 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
91.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
88.4%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+2.7pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 91% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 88% 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 Walnut Hills Elementary School
Walnut Hills Elementary School's state test result (91.1% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walnut Hills Elementary School this school | 708 | 7.1% | 91.1% |
| Shuler Elementary School Clive | 592 | 6.6% | 87.6% |
| Northeast Elementary Ankeny | 595 | 12.6% | 83.9% |
| Ashland Ridge Elementary Ankeny | 548 | 14.1% | 82.2% |
| Helen A Hansen Elementary School Cedar Falls | 569 | 12.7% | 87.8% |
| Gilbert Elementary School Gilbert | 409 | 5.4% | N/A |
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 Walnut Hills Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa | In Dallas County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 91.1% | #7 of 564 | #1 of 15 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 95.2% | #7 of 564 ▼ 3 | #1 of 15 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 92.4% | #7 of 564 ▲ 9 | #2 of 15 ▼ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 708 | #9 of 705 | #2 of 20 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.3:1 | #542 of 561 | #16 of 18 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 39.0% | #275 of 561 | #12 of 18 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 7.1% | #658 of 666 | #19 of 20 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +0.7% | #164 of 168 | N/A |
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
708
+29 (+4%) vs 2020
+35% since 2010-11, when it was 526
Student : Teacher
17.3:1
was 15.8:1
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 | 708 | 41 | 17.3:1 | 7% (50) |
| 2023-24 | 590 | 36.9 | 16.0:1 | 7% (41) |
| 2022-23 | 625 | 38.4 | 16.3:1 | 9% (55) |
| 2020-21 | 679 | 43 | 15.8:1 | 5% (32) |
| 2017-18 | 703 | 39 | 18.1:1 | 5% (34) |
| 2015-16 | 799 | 44 | 18.2:1 | 3% (26) |
| 2010-11 | 526 | 33 | 15.9:1 | 6% (32) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Walnut Hills Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students up 1% (703 to 708); teachers up 5% (39 to 41).
About Walnut Hills Elementary School
Families in Urbandale, Iowa, are served by Walnut Hills Elementary School, a large elementary school. Enrolled students number 708 students, in kindergarten through 5. Statewide, elementary schools in Iowa average about 325 students each.
A total of 19 schools make up Waukee Comm School District, with 13,917 students enrolled.
White students are the majority at Walnut Hills Elementary School, with 77% of enrollment. Other groups make up 6% multiracial, 6% Hispanic, 6% Asian, and 4% Black. The school's diversity index is 39%, meaning two students picked at random have a 39% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
The teaching staff at Walnut Hills Elementary School is 41 full-time-equivalent teachers, and the ratio is 17.3:1. This ratio sits 3.5 above the 13.7:1 average for elementary schools in Iowa. The percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch is 7%. The rate at public schools in Dallas County averages 22%, higher than here.
Measured against Iowa public elementary schools, Walnut Hills Elementary School receives an A. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
The model predicts 88.4% for a school in Iowa with Walnut Hills Elementary School's free or reduced-price lunch share. Walnut Hills Elementary School posts 91.1%.
Census estimates describe Dallas County this way: the median household income is $102,379, 52% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 5% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Besides Walnut Hills Elementary School, Dallas County has 40 other public schools.
The shortest distance from Walnut Hills Elementary School to another public school is about 0.9 miles, to Shuler Elementary School. Other public schools within five miles: at least 8. Walnut Hills Elementary School comes in 1st of 8 nearby schools on average proficiency.
In the federal locale system, Walnut Hills Elementary School is coded Suburb: Large, for schools in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Walnut Hills Elementary School's enrollment grew from 679 in 2020-21 to 708 in 2024-25. In 2020-21, the student-to-teacher ratio was 15.8:1; by 2024-25 it was 17.3:1.
Community posts for Walnut Hills Elementary School can cover enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
Dallas County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
107,968
Census ACS
Median income
$102,379
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
52%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
41
22,938 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Waukee Comm School District
- Northwest High SchoolHigh · 1,574 students
- Waukee High SchoolHigh · 1,375 students
- South Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,092 students
- Timberline SchoolHigh · 992 students
- Waukee Middle SchoolMiddle · 867 students
- Trailridge SchoolMiddle · 754 students
Other schools in Urbandale
- Urbandale High SchoolHigh · 1,301 students
- Urbandale Middle SchoolMiddle · 892 students
- Olmsted Elementary SchoolElementary · 622 students
- Valerius Elementary SchoolElementary · 598 students
- Webster Elementary SchoolElementary · 519 students
- Waterford Elementary SchoolElementary · 464 students
Other Walnut Hills Elementary schools
One other US public school is named Walnut Hills Elementary. Walnut Hills Elementary School is the largest of the 2.
- Walnut Hills Elementary SchoolGREENVILLE, MI · 351 students
Nearby schools
- Shuler Elementary School0.9 mi · 592
- Radiant Elementary School1.4 mi · 273
- Grant Ragan Elementary School1.7 mi · 666
- Waterford Elementary School1.7 mi · 464
- Webster Elementary School2.0 mi · 519
- Eason Elementary School2.2 mi · 590
Frequently asked questions
About Walnut Hills Elementary SchoolHow large is Walnut Hills Elementary School?
Walnut Hills Elementary School enrolls approximately 708 students in grades KG-05.
What age range does Walnut Hills Elementary School serve?
Walnut Hills Elementary School serves students from grade KG through grade 05.
How many teachers does Walnut Hills Elementary School have?
Walnut Hills Elementary School employs 41 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 17.3:1.
How diverse is Walnut Hills Elementary School?
Walnut Hills Elementary School reports a student body of 77% White, 6% Hispanic, 4% Black, 6% Asian, 6% Two or more.
Who oversees Walnut Hills Elementary School?
Walnut Hills Elementary School is overseen by Waukee Comm School District in Dallas County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.