My girls both attended Howe all the way through 5th grade. I loved everything about the school! The teachers are all incredible and the administration does a wonderful job keeping families up to date with all thats happening. My girls loved their teachers and we still go back to visit their old teachers. My kids are in middle school and high school now and I am thankful that howe set them both up to be successful in their study habits and classroom behavior.

This experience is very outdated, but my experience is that school traditions continue over decades. I went to 1st grade at the Howe School for a few months in the fall of 1948. The school was ruled by bullying gangs. Neither the teachers nor the principal seemed to care, spending their spare time out of sight smoking in the teachers lounge. Im not bully-able, so a mini-war broke out. I attacked them from behind on the stairs and on the playground then ran like hell. The corner grocer on Indianola told me, You run like a deer, and gave me a free Baby Ruth when I wanted one.Eventually the gangs gathered themselves and attacked me where my mother and I were living catty-cornered across Indianola, smashing my Flyer wagon and my scooter. Because there was no recourse at Howe, I transferred on two buses across Des Moines to go back to my school on 14th Street. Policeman to boy at bus stop: Little boy, are you lost? No, Im waiting for the Lacona bus to take me home.To any parent with kids going to Howe, I would advise keeping a close eye on the situation there.