5808 Birch St
Berwick, IA 50032

If you want your child to be bullied, nothing to happen to fix the issues, and attacked and injured by other students without any notification sent to you about these situations, then this is the school for you. Between the lack of communication, failure to take accountability for mistakes and total un professionalism of the staff this school wins the award for biggest failure of Desmoines. And no, over staffing is not an issue considering my child has a 5.6-1 student to teacher ratio. Oh and never speak up on issues your having, or your child will be the constant target and disliked by his teachers if you choose to be vocal and request changes being made. Example: not having said bully sitting directly next to your child. I wouldn’t recommend this school to my worst enemy, and if your child happens to have special needs or any sort of education plan, sorry they don’t provide the resources for that either. Expect constant phone calls to pick your student up, or plan on them spending the majority of the day in isolation.

As a parent of a student soaring academically, athletically, musically and socially I can’t agree with the low scoring on this site. Saydel is a fantastic school district for families that are looking for smaller class sizes and the opportunity to participate in many different activities. Unfortunately many families living in this low property tax area leave the district due to the things they’ve heard about it in the past. Many of the families leaving have kids like mine that are academically sound and athletically driven and that hurts our schools scores on website such as Great Schools. Saydel is known for its wonderful special education programs and working well with high risk students and I feel that those wonderful programs are in need in more school districts is what hurts ours. Fall 2020, the families the Saydel district passed a bond referendum to continue school building improvements such as additional classroom spaces, updates to the library and cafeteria, a new music wing and many more additions and updates. Many students thrive far beyond the Saydel walls as well. Many take advance classes at the DMACC Ankeny Campus and end up graduating from high school with not only their high school diploma, but the two year AA degree, shortening their four year college degree work. Saydel is a very well hidden secret in the Des Moines metro. We moved here to start our family and to give our kids opportunities they would not get if attending larger school such as Johnston, Ankeny, Southeast Polk, Des Moines and several others. Give Saydel a chance and see what so many of us in this district already see and experience.

Excellent! Saydel school seem to have a bad reputation due to its past. This district has COME A LONG WAYS in the past 10 years. It truly is a small school within a big community. It’s NOT part of the Des Moines or Ankeny districts. It is it’s own district. Kids have the opportunity to play all sports, involved in band, choir, Mock Trial and more! Many end up starting college courses at DMACC their sophomore year of high school. Many graduating with their high school diploma and AA degree in the same month!