Category Archives: Schools

June 24, 2017: The rear addition of the Arthur school building is close to the original’s style except for the color of the bricks. Starting off with a bullet from earlier so the next one makes sense, and admitting a … Continue reading →

Someone took the last shot in an official basketball game in the gymnasium. Someone was the last student out the door on the last day. Someone was the last school district employee to lock the doors. When I started my … Continue reading →

It’s not Iowa, but it’s covered by an Iowa TV station, and it shows that the issue of school closures is widespread. Newcastle is 36 miles northwest of Sioux City on NE 12. The school Newcastle’s students will be going … Continue reading →

September 30, 2015: The Doon school building has been a community center for about 35 years. This photo was taken during my first and so far only visit to Doon. (I recommend the pizza burger at the Corner Cafe.) The … Continue reading →

Sure, a lot of things didn’t happen in the past year and change. One thing that didn’t happen, though, is unique. In 2020-21, for the first time in the 55-year modern era of Iowa school districts, no community lost its … Continue reading →

June 5, 2014: The oldest portion of the Newell-Fonda Community School opened on February 5, 1912. “The new building marks an era of progress in the Newell schools. In coming years, it will be a monument of foresight of the … Continue reading →

You probably haven’t heard of Gardiner. But if you’ve driven US 169 in Dallas County, you saw the extinct map dot’s once pride and joy, a two-story brick school building. Stories, with pictures, from the Perry News and Raccoon Valley … Continue reading →

What’s left of what once was the Corwith-Wesley-Lu Verne school system — officially never consolidated but together for three decades — is probably going away soon. Algona and Lu Verne have formed a reorganization committee, Radio Iowa reports. Realistically, this means … Continue reading →

Connections and corrections made recently on my school timeline page: Burt and Sentral had a sharing agreement for five years (1988-93) before Burt went with Algona. Sentral had the high school and Burt grades 6-8. This is another case of … Continue reading →

The first takeaway from the 2020-21 certified enrollment list is the most obvious: There were big drops across the board. Growing districts that had not seen decreases in years if not the century to date (Ankeny!) lost kids. There were … Continue reading →