1
What clubs or activities at Western Hills Elementary School are worth joining?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
570
Elementary
DISTRICT 587 · STATE 325
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WEST DES MOINES COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 193093001798
Western Hills Elementary School
600 39th St, West Des Moines, IA 50265 · (515) 633-5900 · Polk County
GRADES PK–06ELEMENTARY13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL570 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
14.9:1
38 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.3:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
46%
261 students
DISTRICT 55% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 29 | 5% |
| Kindergarten | 74 | 13% |
| Grade 1 | 74 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 74 | 13% |
| Grade 3 | 79 | 14% |
| Grade 4 | 82 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 78 | 14% |
| Grade 6 | 80 | 14% |
This year's kindergarten class (74) is 8% smaller than its 6th grade class (80).
Student demographics
66%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 65% · 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
64.9%
IA avg 73.6% . -4.8pp since 2023
Math
67.2%
IA avg 70.9% . -5.1pp since 2023
What this means: On the ISASP, Iowa's statewide test, about 65 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 67 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Iowa schools, those numbers are about 74 and 71. Reading and writing scores are down about 5 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 5 points.
ISASP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 64.9% | 67.2% |
| 2023-24 | 69.7% | 72.3% |
% 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
67.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
69.0%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-1.6pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 67% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 69% 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 Western Hills Elementary School
Western Hills Elementary School's state test result (67.4% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 3 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Western Hills Elementary School this school | 570 | 45.8% | 67.4% |
| Pickwick Early Childhood Center Ottumwa | 560 | 43.4% | N/A |
| Perry Creek Elementary School Sioux City | 635 | 45.0% | 72.8% |
| Fahrney Elementary Ottumwa | 490 | 49.8% | N/A |
| Crossroads Park Elementary School West Des Moines | 530 | 51.5% | 79.9% |
| Herbert Hoover Elementary School Iowa City | 464 | 46.6% | 69.4% |
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 Western Hills Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa | In Polk County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 67.4% | #376 of 564 | #39 of 78 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 67.2% | #426 of 564 ▼ 72 | #45 of 78 ▼ 9 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 64.9% | #407 of 564 ▼ 102 | #43 of 78 ▼ 8 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 570 | #51 of 705 | #16 of 89 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.9:1 | #441 of 561 | #62 of 86 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 66.2% | #87 of 561 | #31 of 86 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 45.8% | #269 of 666 | #50 of 89 |
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
570
-10 (-2%) vs 2020
-12% since 1990-91, when it was 649
Student : Teacher
14.9:1
was 15.7:1
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 | 570 | 38.3 | 14.9:1 | 46% (261) |
| 2023-24 | 560 | 38.3 | 14.6:1 | 26% (148) |
| 2022-23 | 579 | 37.5 | 15.4:1 | 32% (188) |
| 2020-21 | 580 | 37 | 15.7:1 | 36% (210) |
| 2017-18 | 570 | 38.4 | 14.8:1 | 27% (153) |
| 2015-16 | 577 | 41 | 14.1:1 | 28% (163) |
| 2010-11 | 567 | 34 | 16.7:1 | 19% (108) |
| 2000-01 | 458 | 22 | 20.8:1 | 2% (9) |
| 1990-91 | 649 | 28 | 23.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Western Hills Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students unchanged (570 to 570); teachers unchanged (38.4 to 38.3).
About Western Hills Elementary School
A large elementary school in West Des Moines, Iowa, Western Hills Elementary School is part of West Des Moines Comm School District. Students in pre-K through 6 attend the school, which enrolls 570 students. For comparison, elementary schools in Iowa average about 325 students.
West Des Moines Comm School District has 13 schools; together they serve 9,009 students.
No single group makes up more than half of enrollment at Western Hills Elementary School. The largest is White students, at 49%. The remaining shares are 28% Hispanic, 11% Black, 7% multiracial, and 5% Asian. Census estimates put the White share of Polk County's population at about 76%. Western Hills Elementary School's diversity index is 66%, against a US figure of 70%.
Teacher staffing is 38.3 full-time equivalents, or about 14.9 students per teacher. On average, elementary schools in Iowa have 13.7:1, compared with 14.9:1 here. About 46% of students, or 261, qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.
When test results are adjusted for free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, Western Hills Elementary School is 1.6 points below its prediction. Actual: 67.4%. Predicted: 69.0%.
Recent Census Bureau figures for Polk County show that the median household income is $83,576, 40% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Western Hills Elementary School is one of 137 public schools in the county.
The nearest public school is Valley High School, at about 0.7 miles. Around the school, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. By average proficiency, Western Hills Elementary School is 8th among 9 schools close by.
The school's locale code, City: Small, means it is inside a principal city with a population under 100,000.
Enrollment went from 580 in 2020-21 to 570 in 2024-25, a change of 10 students.
Threads on this page can be about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
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 West Des Moines Comm School District
- Valley High SchoolHigh · 2,178 students
- Westridge ElementaryElementary · 744 students
- Valley SouthwoodsHigh · 678 students
- Indian Hills Junior High SchoolMiddle · 661 students
- Jordan Creek Elementary SchoolElementary · 652 students
- Stilwell Junior High SchoolMiddle · 645 students
Other schools in West Des Moines
- Valley High SchoolHigh · 2,178 students
- Westridge ElementaryElementary · 744 students
- Valley SouthwoodsHigh · 678 students
- Jordan Creek Elementary SchoolElementary · 652 students
- Stilwell Junior High SchoolMiddle · 645 students
- Brookview Elementary SchoolElementary · 592 students
Other Western Hills Elementary schools
4 other US public schools in 3 states are named Western Hills Elementary. Western Hills Elementary School is the largest of the 5.
- Western Hills Elementary SchoolFORT WORTH, TX · 499 students
- Western Hills Elementary SchoolEL PASO, TX · 436 students
- Western Hills Elementary SchoolTEMPLE, TX · 417 students
- WESTERN HILLS ELEMENTARY SCHOOLLITTLE ROCK, AR · 202 students
Nearby schools
- Valley High School0.7 mi · 2,178
- Crossroads Park Elementary School1.0 mi · 530
- Valley Southwoods1.1 mi · 678
- Fairmeadows Elementary School1.2 mi · 542
- Jordan Creek Elementary School1.3 mi · 652
- Westridge Elementary1.3 mi · 744
Frequently asked questions
About Western Hills Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Western Hills Elementary School?
Western Hills Elementary School enrolls approximately 570 students in grades PK-06.
What age range does Western Hills Elementary School serve?
Western Hills Elementary School serves students from grade PK through grade 06.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Western Hills Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Western Hills Elementary School is approximately 14.9:1 (38 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Western Hills Elementary School?
Student demographics at Western Hills Elementary School are roughly 49% White, 28% Hispanic, 11% Black, 5% Asian, 7% Two or more.
What district is Western Hills Elementary School in?
Western Hills Elementary School is part of West Des Moines Comm School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.