The top reported proficiency rate is 79% in Math. The lowest is 0% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Spring Creek - 6th Grade
Spring Creek 6th Grade is a single-grade public school serving only sixth graders in Pleasant Hill, a suburban community on the eastern edge of the Des Moines metro area. It is part of the Southeast Polk Community School District. Because the school serves only one grade level, a high school graduation rate does not apply. The enrollment is moderate for a single-grade building, with the student body composed predominantly of white students, a substantial Hispanic and Black population, and smaller shares of Asian, multiracial, and Pacific Islander students. Roughly a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a middle-income peer environment with a meaningful share of families navigating economic pressure.
On state testing from the most recent year reported, the school produced results that sit in the bottom quartile across districts in Polk County when measured by a composite proficiency index. That sounds worse than it may feel in practice. The math and English language arts proficiency rates are solid in absolute terms, landing in the upper seventy percent range. A parent looking at those numbers alone would see a majority of students meeting the state benchmark. The composite index is pulled down relative to other districts in the county because the cohort of comparison includes many higher-performing suburban and metro districts. The data covers only a single year, so there is no trend line to assess whether performance is improving or declining. The school participated in the ISASP assessment with near-universal participation, so the results reflect nearly the entire student body.
The school offers no advanced placement or specialized program data in the available record, and the district brief turned up little of note on recent strategic changes or initiatives, so a family interested in course offerings beyond the core should ask the school directly about what elective, enrichment, or intervention supports are in place for sixth graders. Civil rights data was also absent from this profile, so information on discipline patterns or special education identification rates is not available. A parent may want to follow up with the school or district on those topics.
Pleasant Hill itself is a fast-growing suburb that roughly doubled its population in the last several decades. It is car-dependent, with development oriented along highway corridors. The city has no traditional walkable downtown. Most of Pleasant Hill is served by the Des Moines Public School District, while the newer portions where Spring Creek sits are in Southeast Polk. That means a family moving into this part of town should be aware that the district boundary matters block by block. The city recently suspended its tax incentive program for new development due to state law changes, which may slow future building. Housing values in the area are above the statewide median, and rents are moderate relative to typical incomes, putting homeownership in reach for many but not all households.
This school is best understood as a single-year transition point for students moving through the Southeast Polk system. It does not have its own extracurricular culture or multi-year academic trajectory. A family evaluating it should consider it as one stop in a sequence of schools, and the relevant question is how the district as a whole supports students from middle school through high school. On the evidence here, the school meets a conventional suburban benchmark on state tests and serves a diverse but majority-white student body in a growing outer-ring suburb. There is nothing in the data to suggest a standout weakness, but also nothing beyond the test scores to suggest a distinctive academic identity. A family that wants a clear picture of enrichment, special education services, and the feeder high school experience should seek that information from the district office.
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