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Catholic Schools · Des Moines: South Side

St. Anthony School

Catholic school serving grades PK-8 in Des Moines. On Iowa's accredited nonpublic list, so the Students First ESA can be used here. Funding fit, the state record and questions to ask are below.

Where this comes from. Accreditation and ESA eligibility: Iowa Department of Education 2025-26 Nonpublic School Building Directory (address file March 16, 2026), retrieved October 30, 2026; the ESA can only be used at schools on that list. Enrollment and religious affiliation: NCES Private School Survey 2023-24 (2021-22 for schools that did not respond). Tuition is not reported to either agency, so confirm it with the school.

Can the Iowa ESA be used at St. Anthony School?

Yes. St. Anthony School is on the Iowa Department of Education's 2025-26 list of accredited nonpublic schools (accredited by the State of Iowa), so a K-12 student who attends full time can use the $8,148 Students First ESA here for 2026-27. Tuition and fees are paid from the account first, each semester, through Odyssey.

$8,148
Full-year 2026-27 Students First ESA per K-12 student ($4,074 for a half-year start)
CTO
Catholic Tuition Organization grant if household income is under 400% of poverty
$500
Top Iowa tuition and textbook credit per child, on costs not paid by the ESA
Pre-K
Ask if the four-year-old class is a Statewide Voluntary Preschool partner

As a Catholic school in the Diocese of Des Moines, the school's families can apply to the Catholic Tuition Organization, which the diocese applies to tuition first and does not reduce because of an ESA. The limit is 400 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, $132,000 for a family of four on a 2025 return.

Whatever the family pays itself, beyond the ESA, can count toward the Iowa tuition and textbook credit: 25 percent of the first $2,000 per child. The federal survey shows a pre-K class here; the ESA starts at kindergarten, so ask whether the four-year-old room is a Statewide Voluntary Preschool partner classroom and whether it accepts Child Care Assistance.

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Questions to ask St. Anthony School

  1. What will we owe for our child's grade after the $8,148 ESA is applied, and which fees do you bill through Odyssey?
  2. Which school tuition organization do you use, and when is its grant application due?
  3. Do you offer church-member, parish or sibling rates, or your own need-based aid?
  4. If we apply in the half-year window, by what date do you need our enrollment confirmed?
  5. Is your pre-K a Statewide Voluntary Preschool partner classroom, and what do extra hours cost?

Dates that apply now

  • Oct 15 – Nov 15, 2026Half-year Students First ESA application window for 2026-27 (closes 11:59 p.m. Nov 15); worth $4,074 for the spring semester
  • Dec 1, 2026Spring-semester ESA deposits, including first half-year awards, become available in Odyssey
  • Jan 1, 2027Federal scholarship tax credit starts; Iowa opted in on January 5, 2026
  • Jan 14, 2027Half-year ESA enrollment and tuition-payment deadline in the Odyssey portal (11:59 p.m.); eligibility is finalized January 15

Other private schools in Des Moines: South Side

4 private schools in our data are in Des Moines: South Side; 4 are on the accredited list. See all of them →

Catholic Schools

Christ the King School

Des Moines · Grades PK-8

ESA-eligible (accredited)172 students
Funding fit →Christian Schools

Des Moines Adventist School

Des Moines · Grades PK-8

ESA-eligible (accredited)45 students
Funding fit →

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