The top reported proficiency rate is 76% in English language arts. The lowest is 72% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Bondurant - Farrar Intermediate School
Bondurant-Farrar Intermediate School is a regular public school serving just fifth and sixth grade in Bondurant, a rapidly growing suburb of Des Moines in Polk County. This is a school that exists at a specific moment in a fast-growing district that has been investing in new buildings to keep pace with population growth. For a parent, the first thing to understand is that this is a transitional stage school, bridging elementary and junior high, housed in a district that opened a brand-new junior high building in 2022. The context matters: Bondurant itself has been one of the fastest-growing cities in Iowa, a family-oriented suburb with a small-town feel that has seen substantial residential development. The district serves the communities of Bondurant and Farrar and is projected to keep growing.
The school’s student body is predominantly white, with modest shares of Hispanic, Black, Asian, and multiracial students. About one in five students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate that positions this as a relatively lower-poverty school than many. Because this is an intermediate school serving only fifth and sixth grades, there is no high school graduation rate to report, nor would you expect course access data for advanced placement or career pathways; those programs sit at the high school level. This is not a gap in the school’s offering but simply a reflection of its grade band.
State assessment results from the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress provide a picture of academic performance. In English language arts, a strong majority of students scored at the proficient level. Math proficiency was also solid, though slightly lower than the ELA result. Science, which is only tested at the fifth-grade level in this grade band, showed a similar level of attainment. Taken together, the school’s overall proficiency placed it below the midpoint when compared to other districts in Polk County. That is a straightforward positional fact: the school sits in the middle of the pack among districts in a county that includes Des Moines and many of its suburbs. The numbers themselves suggest a school where most students are meeting state benchmarks, but where a parent might reasonably ask about the trajectory and whether the school is serving students who are not yet at that level. Participation rates on the assessments were very high, which lends confidence to the results as a full picture of the student body.
Several pieces of information that parents might want were not available in the data. Discipline data, staffing ratios, chronic absenteeism rates, special education and English learner counts, and course access details were all absent. For a parent considering this school, these are reasonable questions to take directly to the school or district. The school’s type is listed as a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and Title I status was not reported.
The community is car-dependent, with a trail system as a recreational asset rather than a walkable main street. Housing values in the area are above the state median, reflecting the suburban growth and demand, though recent year-over-year change showed a slight decline. The area is family-oriented; a majority of households have children, and the median age is young. For a family moving to the Des Moines metro area who wants a suburban, growing community with a school that serves a narrow, focused grade band in a district that is building new facilities, this intermediate school fits that profile. The performance data shows a school where most students are proficient on state tests, and the district context is one of expansion and investment. The missing data points are worth exploring further, but nothing in what is reported raises a red flag or suggests a school in distress. It is a middle-of-the-road school in a growing suburb.
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