Category Archives: Schools

Feb 20

Ventura losing its school

Posted on Thursday, February 20, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

August 17, 2017: The jersey of six-on-six basketball star Lynne Lorenzen of Ventura High School is in the State Historical Society’s “Iowa History 101 Mobile Museum.” At left is Natasha Kaiser-Brown’s medal from the 1992 Summer Olympics. I saw the … Continue reading →

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Feb 19

The optimism that was

Posted on Wednesday, February 19, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

October 16, 2009: Belle Plaine High School (1911), last used as Central Elementary during the school year this photo was taken, was torn down in 2016-17. I was going to use this as an intro to a post, but its … Continue reading →

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Jan 29

New MOC-FV elementary would eliminate Hospers school

Posted on Wednesday, January 29, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Finishing a miniseries of school bond blog posts, I suppose. A proposal to consolidate elementary schools in the MOC-FV school district would result in one town losing its school. A story on KTIV says the district is proposing a new … Continue reading →

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Jan 28

South Tama proposal would eliminate Toledo school

Posted on Tuesday, January 28, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Toledo could become the first county seat in Iowa without an active school building. That statement is both accurate and misleading. The South Tama High School building — and subsequent additions in the 21st century that eliminated all other sites … Continue reading →

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Jan 27

Cedar Rapids Prairie needs a bond issue. Again.

Posted on Monday, January 27, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

In early 2016, the College Community School District (Cedar Rapids Prairie) approved a $49.5 million bond issue. This paid for multiple major construction projects on the school’s sprawling campus site on the south side of Cedar Rapids. The campus is a … Continue reading →

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Dec 04

North Winn memorabilia given to Minnesota school district

Posted on Wednesday, December 4, 2019, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

July 25, 2016 If Laura Ingalls had lived in Burr Oak, Iowa, 130 years after she did, she would have been a student at North Winneshiek Elementary School. Unless, that is, being three miles from the Minnesota border, she went … Continue reading →

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Dec 02

The fallen and the rising

Posted on Monday, December 2, 2019, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Towns that lost their only school building that I am aware of, 2010-19: Lineville, Stockport, Lost Nation, Menlo, Arcadia, Vail, Cincinnati, Crystal Lake, Lohrville, Mystic, Ringsted, Rippey, Ute, Denmark, Battle Creek, Hawkeye, Sabula, Titonka, Coggon, Walker, Boxholm, Clearfield, Dows, Elma, … Continue reading →

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Oct 08

Website does everything my booklet did — statewide

Posted on Tuesday, October 8, 2019, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Obviously, I need to write something about this. I haven’t had time to. But I did want to put the story up before it got too much older.

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Aug 08

Recent numbers to think about

Posted on Thursday, August 8, 2019, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

More than half of the Class 1A state baseball titles in the 21st century have been won by private schools. Six of those, including the most recent three, are Mason City Newman’s. Three private schools were in this year’s semifinals. … Continue reading →

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Aug 05

Iowa Mennonite School has new name, nickname

Posted on Monday, August 5, 2019, at 10:05 AM by Jeff

It’s a kind of thing you don’t really know about unless you played them on a regular basis, but until now, Iowa Mennonite School hasn’t had a team name. It’s been around since 1945, but the second reference was simply … Continue reading →

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