The top reported proficiency rate is 94% in Math. The lowest is 91% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Gilbert Intermediate School
Gilbert Intermediate School is a regular public school serving third through fifth grade in the Gilbert Community School District, a small, fast-growing town just north of Ames and Iowa State University. Because it covers only the upper elementary years, there is no graduation rate to report, and state testing data is available for the grades it serves.
On the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress, the school posted very high proficiency rates across all tested subjects. The share of students reaching the proficient or above level was above nine in ten in math, English language arts, and science alike. Participation rates were essentially at full attendance. In the context of districts across Story County, the school’s combined proficiency index lands in the top quartile, a position that reflects consistently strong results rather than a single standout subject. A single year of data makes trend-reading impossible, but the level of achievement is clear.
Enrollment stands at several hundred students, with roughly balanced numbers across grades three, four, and five. The student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Asian, Hispanic, Black, and multiracial students. About one in ten students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a relatively low rate that aligns with the area’s overall affluence. Data on special education identification and English learner status was not available, so a parent who wants a fuller picture of support services would need to ask the school directly.
The town of Gilbert is compact, with a mix of single-family homes, parks, walking trails, a public library, a museum, and community centers. It sits along Highway 69 and a rail line, and it has no public transit. The population has been growing steadily since the 2020 census, and the city describes itself as steadily developing. The median household income is high and the poverty rate low. A large share of households include children under 18, and the housing market reflects the desirability: typical home values in the area are above the state and national benchmarks, and rents are high enough that monthly mortgage costs exceed rents for a typical unit, which is common in markets with strong owner-occupancy demand. The town’s growth and high home values suggest continued pressure on the school system, but the district brief turned up no recent major changes or controversies that a parent would need to track.
The school is physically part of a cluster of district buildings within the town’s small footprint, so campus trips for siblings in different grades would be short. Gilbert Intermediate shares a district with an elementary school, a middle school, and a high school, meaning students move through a single feeder system.
This is a school where academic performance is a central strength. A family moving to the area will find a school that reliably produces top-quartile proficiency rates, a student body with low economic disadvantage, and a community that is growing but still small-town in feel. The missing pieces are typical for an intermediate school: no graduation rate to worry about, no high-school-level course access data, and no discipline or staffing ratios publicly available in this dataset. For a parent whose priority is strong foundational academics in an elementary setting, and who is comfortable with the area’s high housing costs, this school makes a straightforward case.
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