The top reported proficiency rate is 82% in Math. The lowest is 78% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Carlisle Elementary School
Carlisle Elementary School serves as the sole early-elementary building in the Carlisle Community School District, enrolling students from prekindergarten through third grade. The school sits in the small city of Carlisle, part of the Des Moines metropolitan area, on a campus that also includes the district’s high school. The community is a mix of historic downtown, residential neighborhoods on a hill above a railroad valley, and newer suburban-style development along Scotch Ridge Road, where the district’s middle school now stands. Carlisle has seen steady population growth over recent decades, and its housing values have risen faster than the national average over the past year, though they remain below the national median. Local employers include a General Mills flour mill and packaged foods plant, a Heartland Coop grain elevator, and the Union Pacific railroad line that runs through town. The Summerset Trail, a rail-trail, has its northern terminus here, providing a recreational corridor south toward Indianola.
Academically, Carlisle Elementary performs solidly. A strong majority of its third graders met state proficiency standards on the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress in both reading and mathematics, and the school’s overall proficiency across tested subjects sits above the midpoint among districts in Warren County. Because the school serves only early grades, these results come from a single tested grade, so they offer a snapshot rather than a trend line. Only one year of data is available for this school, so there is no basis to judge improvement or decline. The district itself did not report any recent major changes, leaving the impression of a stable setting.
The student body is predominantly white, with a sizable Hispanic population and smaller shares of Asian, Black, and multiracial students. About a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a modest share that aligns with the area’s generally middle-income profile. No data is reported for students with disabilities or English learners, so a parent with a child who may need those services would want to ask the school directly about supports, especially given that early elementary is often when such services are first identified.
Civic and commercial life in Carlisle centers on School and First Streets, where the original downtown was relocated after the railroad came. City Hall sits in that strip. The elementary school is a short distance from downtown, on the same grounds as the high school, creating a single campus feel for the district’s youngest students and its oldest. The middle school is on a separate campus developed alongside new residential and commercial construction, reflecting the community’s outward growth pattern.
For a family considering this school, the main consideration is that it is the starting point for the district: children attend here through third grade then move to an upper elementary campus in nearby Hartford before progressing to middle and high school. That means continuity within the district but also multiple transitions. The school’s academic foundation appears solid, and the community offers a small-city environment with easy highway access to Des Moines. The lack of data on special populations and chronic absenteeism, along with the single year of test results, means a parent should visit and talk with staff to fill in those gaps, but nothing in the available information points to a concern. Carlisle Elementary is a well-performing early elementary school in a growing Des Moines suburb with an established industrial base and suburban-style expansion underway.
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