The top reported proficiency rate is 76% in English language arts. The lowest is 70% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Urbandale Middle School
Urbandale Middle School serves grades six through eight in the Urbandale Community School District, a suburban system within the Des Moines metropolitan area. The school building sits on Aurora Avenue, one of the city's main commercial corridors, in a community that grew from a streetcar suburb into one of Iowa's larger cities, with sustained expansion west toward Dallas County. The city's largest employer, Marsh & McLennan Companies, anchors a local economy centered on finance, insurance, healthcare, and retail. Housing values in the area sit above the national midpoint, and rents are high enough that buying is less expensive than renting on a monthly basis, a dynamic that may matter to families weighing a move into the district.
The school enrolls a student body that is majority white, with the next largest groups being Hispanic, Black, and Asian students. About a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that places the school in a middle-income range relative to many other Iowa public schools. The school is a regular public school and is not a charter or magnet. It is a Title I school, though the data provided does not indicate whether the school operates a schoolwide or targeted assistance program under that designation. Special education and English learner counts were not available, so a family with a child who receives those services would want to ask the school directly about staffing ratios and program models.
On the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress, which the state administers to students in grades three through eight, the school's proficiency rates in English language arts, math, and science all land well above the floor of the scale. In a county-level comparison of overall proficiency across tested subjects, Urbandale Middle School falls below the midpoint among districts in Polk County. That position is not a weak result in absolute terms, but it does mean that several other middle schools in the county post higher combined proficiency. A parent comparing options within the county would want to look more closely at how the school serves different student groups, since the district-wide proficiency number can smooth over variation between students who are well below benchmark and those who are solidly proficient.
The school is part of a district that has made consequential changes in recent years. In late 2023, Urbandale voters approved a general obligation bond to build a new elementary school, upgrade security district-wide, and add classroom space at the high school, which also increased property taxes. The school board also redrew elementary attendance boundaries for the 2024-2025 school year to balance enrollment across the four elementary schools. That reprecincting may have shifted which elementary school feeds into Urbandale Middle School for some families, though existing students were grandfathered in. The district has also been implementing competency-based education across all grade levels, a pedagogical shift that changes how students are assessed and how they advance through coursework. For a family moving into the district, these changes mean the school's approach to learning may look different from a traditional middle school model.
The school's academic offerings are not described in the data, so it is unclear what mix of honors courses, electives, or intervention programs is available. No information was given on the school's staffing ratios, teacher experience, or course access, so a parent trying to gauge the depth of the academic program will need to follow up directly. The attendance and disciplinary data were also missing, making it hard to assess the day-to-day school climate from this report alone.
Urbandale itself is car-oriented, with a limited public transit route connecting parts of the city to a mall and nearby suburbs. The city maintains a network of parks and recreational trails that link to the larger Des Moines trail system, and major cultural anchors include Living History Farms and Buccaneer Arena. For a family choosing a middle school, the question is less about the town's amenities and more about the specific academic pathway, student peer environment, and instructional approach that Urbandale Middle School provides. The available evidence shows a school with above-floor state test results, a middle-income student population, and a district that is actively investing in facilities and rethinking how students demonstrate mastery. The gaps in the data are real, and a parent would be wise to fill them through a school visit and conversations with staff.
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