Original Research by School Decision on Lincoln High School
Lincoln High School is a large regular public high school in Des Moines, serving grades nine through twelve. It is part of the Des Moines Independent Community School District. With an enrollment that places it among the bigger high schools in the area, it draws students from the southwestern part of the city.
Academic performance data is available for a single recent year. In English language arts, roughly half of students met the state’s proficiency standard. In mathematics, the share was somewhat lower, at about two-fifths, and in science it was at a similar level. The school reports only one year of state testing results, so there is no trend to assess whether performance is improving or declining. The graduation rate was not provided in the data; a parent may want to follow up with the school directly on this measure.
The student body is highly diverse. Hispanic students constitute the largest group, followed by White, Black, Asian, and multiracial students, with small numbers of Native American and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students. About two-thirds of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a high level of economic need. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not reported, so the full picture of support services and special populations is not available here.
The school is located in Des Moines, Iowa’s capital and its most populous city. Des Moines functions as a mix of commercial and residential areas and is a major center for the insurance and financial services industries. Major employers include Principal Financial Group, Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, Wells Fargo, and several other national firms. The city has seen recent growth, with its metropolitan area population increasing and new data-processing facilities built by Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, and Facebook in the region. The city maintains extensive parkland and trails, and civic life is centered around downtown, the Iowa State Capitol, and cultural institutions such as the Des Moines Art Center and the Iowa State Fairgrounds.
Housing in the area is at moderate levels relative to national benchmarks. The typical home value and rent are in line with what many families in a mid-sized Midwestern capital city would expect. The area’s housing market has shown modest appreciation, and the broader economic context includes a low unemployment rate and household incomes near the national median.
No information was available on the school’s program offerings—such as Advanced Placement, career and technical education, or dual-credit courses. Discipline data, staffing ratios, and attendance rates were also missing. The comparison set that would place Lincoln High School among other districts in Polk County could not be used because the necessary metrics, including proficiency index and graduation rate, were not reported at the entity level. That means a parent cannot yet gauge how this school’s outcomes stack up against nearby high schools from the data presented here.
Lincoln High School is a large urban high school serving a diverse, economically varied student population in a growing state capital. Its state testing results show moderate proficiency rates, and key outcome measures like graduation and college readiness are not documented in the available data. For families weighing this school, these gaps are worth raising directly with the district or school administration.
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