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Which teacher or staff member at Weeks Middle School deserves more recognition?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
688
Middle
DISTRICT 593 · STATE 400
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DES MOINES INDEPENDENT COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 190897000584
Weeks Middle School
901 East Park Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50315 · (515) 242-8449 · Polk County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL688 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
14.2:1
48 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.7:1 · STATE 15.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
87%
601 students
DISTRICT 76% · STATE 41%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 244 | 35% |
| Grade 7 | 210 | 31% |
| Grade 8 | 234 | 34% |
Student demographics
73%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
50.7%
IA avg 73.6% . +4.4pp since 2023
Math
40.1%
IA avg 70.9% . +4.8pp 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 40 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 4 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 5 points.
ISASP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 50.7% | 40.1% |
| 2023-24 | 46.3% | 35.3% |
% 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
42.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
48.3%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-5.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 43% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 48% 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 Weeks Middle School
Weeks Middle School's state test result (42.8% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks Middle School this school | 688 | 87.4% | 42.8% |
| Harding Middle School Des Moines | 603 | 88.6% | 39.9% |
| Meredith Middle School Des Moines | 662 | 79.8% | 51.6% |
| McCombs Middle School Des Moines | 670 | 83.3% | 54.0% |
| Goodrell Middle School Des Moines | 511 | 84.7% | 42.4% |
| Storm Lake Middle School Storm Lake | 651 | 72.8% | 44.6% |
Matched among Iowa middle 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 Weeks Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa | In Polk County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 42.8% | #219 of 224 | #17 of 21 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 40.1% | #221 of 224 ▲ 1 | #20 of 21 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 50.7% | #216 of 224 ▲ 4 | #17 of 21 ▲ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 688 | #35 of 246 | #6 of 21 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.2:1 | #89 of 180 | #6 of 21 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 72.7% | #6 of 180 | #5 of 21 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 87.4% | #5 of 237 | #3 of 21 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -10.2% | #63 of 103 | #8 of 14 |
Ranked against other public middle 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
688
-55 (-7%) vs 2020
+2% since 1990-91, when it was 672
Student : Teacher
14.2:1
was 15.5:1
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 | 688 | 48.5 | 14.2:1 | 87% (601) |
| 2023-24 | 668 | 41.8 | 16.0:1 | 78% (519) |
| 2022-23 | 684 | 38.9 | 17.6:1 | 86% (586) |
| 2020-21 | 743 | 48 | 15.5:1 | 87% (648) |
| 2017-18 | 766 | 50 | 15.3:1 | 85% (652) |
| 2015-16 | 717 | 49 | 14.6:1 | 85% (609) |
| 2010-11 | 677 | 49 | 13.8:1 | 76% (515) |
| 2000-01 | 847 | 50 | 16.9:1 | 54% (456) |
| 1990-91 | 672 | 42 | 16.0:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Weeks Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 10% (766 to 688); teachers down 3% (50 to 48.5).
About Weeks Middle School
Weeks Middle School is a large middle school with its address in Des Moines, Iowa. The school serves grades 6 through 8. Enrollment is 688 students. Middle schools in Iowa have about 400 students on average; enrollment here is 72% higher.
Des Moines Independent Comm School District (59 schools, 29,676 students) runs Weeks Middle School.
The biggest share of students at Weeks Middle School, 42%, is Hispanic. Beyond that, enrollment is 19% White, 18% Black, 14% Asian, and 6% multiracial. In Polk County overall, about 10% of residents are Hispanic. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Weeks Middle School scores 73%.
A staff of 48.5 full-time-equivalent teachers puts the student-to-teacher ratio at 14.2:1. Compared with the 15.2:1 average for middle schools in Iowa, this school's ratio is lower. By family income, 87% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Compared with the 49% average for public schools in Polk County, the school's rate is higher.
Weeks Middle School sits between the top and bottom 10% of Iowa schools on BeatsExpectations, with an actual average proficiency rate across its state test results of 42.8% and a predicted 48.3%.
The school's county is Polk County. According to Census Bureau estimates, the median household earns about $83,576 a year, roughly 40% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Public schools in Polk County number 137, with about 77,436 students.
Weeks Middle School's nearest public school is Howe Elementary (about 0.3 miles). There are at least 8 more public schools inside five miles. On state test proficiency, Weeks Middle School ranks 6th in a group of 9 nearby schools.
NCES assigns Weeks Middle School the locale City: Mid-size, meaning inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
Enrollment decreased by 7% across 4 years, from 743 in 2020-21 to 688 in 2024-25. The ratio of students to teachers went from 15.5:1 to 14.2:1 over the same years.
This page is a place to ask questions and share updates about athletics, class schedules, and weather closures at Weeks Middle School. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
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
- McCombs Middle SchoolMiddle · 670 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
- McCombs Middle SchoolMiddle · 670 students
Nearby schools
- Howe Elementary0.3 mi · 297
- Jackson Elementary School0.6 mi · 490
- South Union Elementary School1.0 mi · 422
- River Woods Elementary School1.2 mi · 493
- Park Ave Elementary School1.3 mi · 380
- McKinley Elementary School1.3 mi · 275
Frequently asked questions
About Weeks Middle SchoolHow many students attend Weeks Middle School?
Weeks Middle School enrolls approximately 688 students in grades 06-08.
Is Weeks Middle School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Weeks Middle School is a middle school covering grades 06-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Weeks Middle School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Weeks Middle School is approximately 14.2:1 (48 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Weeks Middle School?
Weeks Middle School reports a student body of 19% White, 42% Hispanic, 18% Black, 14% Asian, 6% Two or more.
Who oversees Weeks Middle School?
Weeks Middle 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.