Superintendent's Message

Welcome to the Dallas Center-Grimes Community School District‚ Website. Our staff and students have designed this Website with you in mind. We hope that you find it useful. If you have any suggestions about how our Website can better serve your needs, please email our Webmaster.

We are deeply committed to providing every child a quality education in a safe environment. We cannot do this alone. The support of parents, staff, and our community is vitally important to ensure that all of our children are prepared to be successful workers, family members, and citizens.

The Dallas Center-Grimes School District serves approximately 1,860 students. Dallas Center and Grimes are ideally located just minutes west of the Des Moines metro area. Dallas Center and Grimes offer a unique‚ small town‚ environment that provides a strong sense of community. We are very proud of our schools and the strong support that we receive from the parents, local businesses, and patrons in the district.

The district’s Comprehensive School Improvement Plan (CSIP) focuses on improving student achievement in all areas, with significant emphasis on reading, math, and science. Student achievement is measured through the use of ITBS and ITED standardized tests, as well as criterion referenced test and classroom diagnostic testing. Students in the DC-G School District continue to perform well above statewide averages.

In the spring of 2008, the Des Moines Register reported DC-G graduates performing in the top 10% of Iowa schools at state regent institutions. When comparing the college grade point average for students from each school in Iowa, DC-G graduates ranked in the top 10% of all courses and difficult courses.

The district has two elementary schools, one middle school, one high school, and an alternative high school. A third elementary is scheduled to open in the fall of 2008.

Before and after school childcare programs are offered in each of our elementary buildings through local groups. Our schools provide a safe, supportive learning environment, and many opportunities for students to develop a strong academic foundation.

The community passed four bonds over the past seven years to improve our facilities.
•     9.75 million dollar bond issue was passed in the fall of 1999, which allowed us to open a new high school in August of 2002.
•     6.4 million dollar bond issue to renovate and add on at the site of the old high school in Dallas Center. This facility was opened in the fall of 2004, and serves our middle school students.
•     3.0 million dollar bond issue to add a 650-seat auditorium to the DC-G High School. The auditorium opened in the fall of 2005.
•     6.5 million dollar bond issue to build a new elementary in Grimes. This elementary will open in the fall of 2008.

In addition to bond issues passed by the District, we have also used a local option sales tax assessed in Polk and Dallas counties to build a new elementary building in Dallas Center and a sports complex at the high school site.

The elementary building funded by sales tax dollars opened in January of 2002. The sports complex was completed in the fall of 2006, with the first football game being played on September 1, 2006. High school track moved to the new complex in the spring of 2006 and soccer in the spring of 2007.

On behalf of the Board of Education and our employees, we welcome you to the Dallas Center-Grimes Community School District.