A new charter school opens Monday in Des Moines' East Village neighborhood. It's one of the latest additions to Iowa's growing number of charter schools after a 2021 law opened the way for more independent charter schools to be established. The school, Des Moines Prep, will start with 120 students in 8th and 9th grade.
The school is operated by Opportunity Education, an Omaha-based nonprofit founded by billionaire Joe Ricketts, the founder and former CEO of the brokerage firm Ameritrade. According to the organization's website, the nonprofit already operates two private schools — Quest Forward High School in Santa Rosa, Calif. and Quest Forward High School in Omaha, Neb.
Des Moines Prep's opening underscores a more conducive environment in the state for alternative types of schools. Charter school friendly legislation, combined with state incentives and what charter school organizers see as growing demand from families seeking alternative options to their local public schools, has helped attract more of the schools to the state.
Iowa now has 10 charter schools, according to the Iowa Department of Education — a marked increase from the two the state had before creating new pathways for starting the schools.
What's a charter school?
Charter schools are publicly funded, tuition-free schools run by governing boards under legislative contracts, or charters. While they can be tied to a school district, most are independently run following a 2021 law change.
The schools are allowed to control their own budget and hire and fire their own teachers and staff, according to the Iowa Department of Education. They're also allowed to be formed around a core theme, curriculum or teaching method, but they must attract students and produce “positive results” within five years.
Iowa's growing charter school landscape
According to a 2024 report from the Iowa Department of Education, charter school enrollment increased by 68% between the 2022-2023 school year and 2023-2024 school year, growing from 257 to 433 students.
The growth of charter schools in Iowa has been incentivized by state grant programs and legislation allowing groups to start charter schools independent of school districts.
In 2021, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a law allowing groups not affiliated with local school districts to start charter schools, subject to approval from the state Board of Education. Republicans supported the initiative, claiming it would give families more choice over their child's education. Meanwhile, Democrats criticized the proposal as funneling public dollars to schools with less oversight than traditional public schools.
Supporting the expansion of public charter schools was one of the governor's educational priorities in 2024. In May of last year, she signed a bill letting some types of categorical funding follow students to charter schools and requiring school districts selling property to sell to an educational institution — like other school districts, colleges, private schools or charter schools — if they are the highest bidder.
The law also allows charter schools to enter into agreements with other schools — including with traditional public, private or nonpublic schools — for students to participate in activities not offered at the charter school.
At the same time, the governor launched a $7 million grant program for charter school infrastructure costs. Des Moines Prep, previously named Quest Forward Charter School, received one of the $500,000 grants.
Mike Huguelet, executive director of the Iowa Coalition for Public Charter Schools, helps groups, including Opportunity Education, fill out state applications for new charter schools.
He said the Omaha-based group decided to set up schools in Iowa due in part to Nebraska law not authorizing the creation of public charter schools. Huguelet said Iowa laws around charter schools are “helpful," but he points to open enrollment numbers as one of the primary reasons why charter schools see opportunity in Iowa.
“They're [charter management organizations] saying, ‘hey, wait a second.’ There's thousands of kids that are leaving the city to go to a different place to get a public education,” he said. “Why don't we just start a school in their neighborhood, and then ... it's closer to their house, right?”
Des Moines Prep's mission
According to Des Moines Prep founding principal Matt Lakis, the new high school is focused on college prep and forming connections with business partners across the city.
He said the school is open to students across the state regardless of learning needs, including English language learners and students with an Individualized Education Program or a 504 plan.
“We don't tell families you have to be at the top of your class, you don't have to have a certain skill set or even know what you want to do,” Lakis said. “That's our job to help them unlock that within themselves. All that we ask is that kids are just willing to work and be challenged, and that's the sort of student that we're looking for.”
The school promises students will come away with at least two college acceptance letters by graduation.
“We kind of make that promise to our families and our students right up front, that everything we do is going to help prepare your student to go to college, but that doesn't mean they have to,” Lakis said.
Des Moines Prep will incrementally add higher grade levels each year up through 12th grade. Although offering 8th grade this year wasn’t part of the original plan, according to Lakis, the school incorporated the grade after an "overwhelming number” of eighth grade families expressed interest. The school has a capacity for 150 students its first year and providing 8th grade classes helped the school get closer to its goal number of students.
With the school located just blocks from the state Capitol and local businesses, Lakis said he hopes to foster relationships with the business community in the form of job shadows and apprenticeships. The school has partnerships with Iowa Jobs for America’s Graduates, or iJAG, and the Iowa Association of Business and Industry, which Lakis said is aimed at connecting students with business leaders and developing job skills like interviewing.
Looking ahead
Two other charter schools are also opening in Iowa this fall. Opportunity Education is opening another school, Cedar Rapids Prep, in Cedar Rapids, and Horizon Science Academy is opening in Davenport.
The Iowa State Board of Education approved six more charter schools to open next year.
