The top reported proficiency rate is 92% in Math. The lowest is 79% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Irving Elementary School
Irving Elementary School serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Indianola, a growing Warren County seat roughly a short drive south of Des Moines. The town has a traditional downtown square, Simpson College, and a mix of residential neighborhoods and light manufacturing. A steady population increase and rising home values in recent years point to an area drawing families, and the district recently renewed a local property tax levy for facilities and began rolling out a new evidence-based literacy curriculum across its elementary schools, starting in the 2024-25 school year.
Irving is one of four elementary schools in the Indianola Community School District. It is a regular public school serving a kindergarten-through-fifth-grade population that is predominantly white, with small Hispanic and multiracial shares and a very modest number of students identifying as Black or Asian. A relatively small share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a common marker of economic disadvantage, suggesting the school draws from households with above-average economic resources within the community.
On the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress, Irving posted notably strong results. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or above was high. In English language arts, proficiency was also at a high level. Science scores, which are tested in fewer grades, were solid but a step behind the results in the other two subjects. These outcomes placed the school in the top quartile on an overall proficiency index when compared with other schools in the county, a positive signal for a family weighing academic performance.
Because Irving is an elementary school, there is no high school graduation rate to report, and the available data does not include information on special education or English learner enrollment, discipline rates, chronic absenteeism, or staffing ratios. For a parent trying to understand student support or school climate, those are gaps worth raising directly with the school or the district.
The school sits at a moment when its district is investing in its physical plant and updating how reading is taught. The new literacy curriculum, grounded in the science of reading, has been adopted district-wide and was implemented across all elementary buildings starting in the 2024-25 school year. That means Irving’s students are learning under a uniform, centrally directed approach to early reading instruction. Separately, the district is funding a major renovation at the high school campus, which won’t directly affect Irving families for several years but signals a district with the resources and board support to undertake large capital projects.
Housing in Indianola has become more expensive in recent years, with home values rising and rents that, while still below the cost of a mortgage with current interest rates, reflect a market that is tightening. The community is car-dependent, with most residents commuting to work by car, and it offers the usual slate of small-city amenities including parks, a Carnegie library, and events tied to the college and the balloon classic.
For a family considering Irving, the picture is of a high-performing elementary school with strong test scores in a growing, predominantly white suburban community that is making deliberate investments in its schools. The main unknown revolves around student support structures and school climate, since those data points were not available. This is a school that fits a family who values above-average early academic outcomes and wants a setting that feels stable and resourced, but who will want to follow up on the non-academic dimensions with the building itself.
See more original research from School Decision →