The top reported proficiency rate is 87% in English language arts. The lowest is 80% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Henry a Wallace Elementary School
Henry A. Wallace Elementary School serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Johnston, a fast-growing suburban community in the Des Moines metro area. The school is part of the Johnston Community School District and sits in a city shaped by major corporate campuses, including Corteva Agriscience and John Deere Financial, and a population that has expanded rapidly as families have been drawn to the area’s strong housing market and employment base. Johnston lacks a traditional downtown; daily life is car-oriented, with civic life clustering around the city hall and library area and community events like Green Days and a farmers’ market.
The school’s academic performance on the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress is a clear strength. Proficiency rates in math, English language arts, and science all land well above what is typical across the district’s county. When measured against other elementary schools in Polk County, Wallace’s overall proficiency across subjects places it in the top quartile. Testing participation rates were high, adding confidence to the results. The district as a whole has reported sustained academic gains and strong proficiency in recent years, and Wallace’s own numbers reflect that trajectory.
The student body of about that size for a PK-5 school is predominantly white, with Asian, Black, Hispanic, and multiracial students each making up a meaningful share of enrollment. A relatively modest portion of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, and the school’s housing market context supports that picture: home values in the area are notably above both state and national benchmarks, and rents are higher as well, consistent with Johnston’s position as an affluent suburb. The Johnston Community School District recently reported a significant reduction in chronic absenteeism, a district-wide effort that has brought rates well below the state average. Data on special education identification and English learner enrollment at the school level was not available, so a parent wanting to understand how those populations are served may wish to ask the school directly.
Wallace’s namesake, Henry A. Wallace, is a figure with deep local roots — a former U.S. vice president and agriculture secretary whose early hybrid corn experiments are tied to what later became Corteva’s Johnston campus. The school is a regular public school with no charter or magnet designation, and Title I status was not reported. The grade band means there is no graduation rate to report, and program offerings data were not included in the available information.
For a family weighing this school, the academic picture is the headline: consistently strong state test results in a district that has been building on those gains. The peer environment reflects the area’s economic profile, and the setting is a growing suburb with a stable employment base and rising housing costs. A parent considering Wallace would be looking at an elementary school whose academic record is among the strongest in its county, within a district that has made attendance and concurrent enrollment central to its recent strategy. The school does not serve older grades, so any eventual middle and high school transition happens elsewhere in the district.
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