Category Archives: Schools

Apr 11

Red Oak school to become apartments

The Red Oak school district is relocating its middle school students to the school complex on the north side of the city, but the current facility won’t be demolished when students depart for the last time this summer. KMA reports … Continue reading

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Apr 09

Iowa’s oldest active school sticking around

The 1848 building at the core of Bellevue Elementary will remain in use at least a little while longer after a bond issue vote last week. A majority of voters opposed a referendum to replace the school, the Bellevue Herald-Leader … Continue reading

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Mar 30

An unfortunate closing in the nick of time

In 1978, as enrollment in the South Page school district was falling*, the district closed its attendance centers in both Braddyville and Coin. It was a far cry from the optimism of just over a decade earlier, when voters approved … Continue reading

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Mar 20

When Clear Creek was rural

(An unintended companion piece to yesterday’s blog post.) During the 1980s, the Clear Creek school district was in dire straits. They couldn’t get money for nothin’. In 1989, Clear Creek cancelled its football season a week before it began, leaving … Continue reading

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Mar 19

Clay Central-Everly losing high school, junior high

October 3, 2016: The welcome sign for Royal, pop. 446, former end of IA 240 and soon-to-be-former football field for Clay Central-Everly. For the tenth time this decade, an Iowa district is closing its high school without getting any students in … Continue reading

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Feb 22

A look into Marshall County school history

This is just the kind of thing I like to see when I’m looking into the “genealogy” of school districts, so I better give the Marshalltown Times-Republican some props for this two-story series. Marshall County rural schools: A history (1) … Continue reading

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Feb 19

Enrollment analysis 2018-19: The trends continue

When the Iowa Department of Education released enrollment numbers for the 2018-19 school year, it announced: “For the eighth year in a row, the number of students attending Iowa’s public schools increased.” Strictly speaking, that’s true. But as long-time blog … Continue reading

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Feb 18

Olin to set up whole-grade sharing with Midland

In what I believe is the fifth such arrangement of its kind, the Olin school district is going to give students in grades 7-12 their choice of school to attend. The Anamosa Journal-Eureka reports that the Olin board was to … Continue reading

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Feb 15

Gladbrook wants to preserve decade-old fitness center

Back in April, the news wasn’t good for the Gladbrook school complex. News came that everything was going to be torn down, including the fitness center that opened 11 years ago March 2. But last month, the Waterloo Courier reported, … Continue reading

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Feb 12

Ankeny, Waukee think about third high schools

Ankeny is preparing to add a third high school in the early 2030s, the Des Moines Register reported last month — and Waukee may not be far behind. The two districts in Iowa that, between them, seem to be opening at … Continue reading

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