Data and Demographics

Serving a Growing Population from Around the World

Since 1990, the number of English Language Learners in Des Moines Public Schools has grown by 700%, from less than 1,000 students in 1990-91 to more than 6,800 students in 2016-17. During this period the overall student enrollment remained stable between 32,000 and 33,000 students.

ELL students in DMPS now constitute more than one out of five of our enrollment, and account for nearly one quarter of the total number of ELL students in Iowa.

The interactive graphs below share information on the changes in ELL enrollment at DMPS since 2000: