The district currently serves most of the city of Des Moines as well as parts of suburban Pleasant Hill[3] and Windsor Heights. The city is split into four different area districts. District one covers the west, two covers the north, three covers the east, and district four the south.
In addition to traditional neighborhood schools, the district has various neighborhood schools with programs such as the IB Programme, Tourn Around Arts, and more. The district also offers many special schools and programs.
Scavo Campus — An alternative high school program serving 300 students, named after Vincent C. Scavo located at Central Campus downtown.
Ruby Van Meter School - A special education school serving disabled students with high support needs.
Central Academy (Est. 1985) - A magnet school located in downtown Des Moines nationally recognized for its academic achievements.
Central Campus - A magnet program serving high school students throughout Iowa with 9 career academies. (Business Academy, Information Technology & Arts Academy, Engineering Academy, Human Service Academy, Health Sciences Academy, Skill Trades Academy, Technology & Systems Integration Academy, Transportation Academy)
Academic Pathways - A set of three programs designed for both adults and current high schoolers who need a new path to earning a highschool diploma
Orchard Place School - A Psychiatric Medical Institute for Children ages 10–18. The largest PMIC in Iowa
The Des Moines Public Schools Virtual Campus is an online middle school and high school (6-12) serving students through all of Iowa.
Channel 12 is the school district's Educational-access televisioncable TV channel, which is provided through Mediacom Cable Television as part of a franchise agreement with the City of Des Moines. The district televises their school board meetings through this network. Additionally, the school district operates its own social media outlets.
Note: The table rows shown in red represents data that was cited directly from the Des Moines Public Schools enrollment reports. Some of this data conflicts with data from the Iowa Department of Education annual reports. This is because the underlying data is complex, and the table above is a summary of the data collected from the two sources.