Indian Hills Junior High opened its doors to students on November 22, 1977. A labor strike had delayed the opening of the building. The formal dedication was held Sunday, April 16, 1978.

An interesting point of history relates to the moving of the building equipment and supplies from the Hillside building at 8th and High to the new Indian Hills facility. A parent group was organized to help with the move. Each student helped carry an item into the building through the use of shuttle buses. The final move was to be completed on the weekend of November 20th. Trucks, station wagons, and cars were used in the move which began at 6:30 am, Saturday, November 20th. By 6:00 pm, the remaining contents had been delivered to the new building. A picnic supper was held in the student center. Monday, November 22, students arrived for the first day of classes. The parent group that organized the move still exists and has been an integral part of the Indian Hills program.

Indian Hills is on twenty-two acres of land in the Indian Hills subdivision of Clive, Iowa. Although located in Clive the building is part of the West Des Moines Community school district and serves students in four communities: Clive, West Des Moines, Windsor Heights and Urbandale.

There were originally 28 classrooms plus a spacious auditorium completed in 1978, a gymnasium, student center, preparation kitchen and offices. The grounds provide three tennis courts, a softball field, three soccer fields, two baseball diamonds, and prairie area, outdoor classroom and parking for cars and bikes. In 1993, an additional 17 classrooms, one computer lab, 2 science rooms, one band room, and a second gym were added along with extensive remodeling of the entire building.

Indian Hills provides a curriculum with a strong basic program and a blend of elective exploratory programs necessary at the junior high level. Constant review of the curriculum has always taken place by the staff and administration to provide the best total educational program to the students. With strong parent support and student involvement, we plan to continue that tradition.

A highlight for the total Indian Hills school community is being selected in 1982-83 by the United States Department of Education as one of the nation’s outstanding schools.