Category Archives: Schools

May 24

Orient-Macksburg could dissolve

Iowa’s next school dissolution could happen next year. The Creston News-Advertiser reported in mid-May that Orient-Macksburg students did a presentation on the possibilities for the tiny district and recommended whole-grade sharing with Nodaway Valley. KSIB radio reported that at a … Continue reading

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May 14

Goodbye to Garfield, Arthur schools in CR

I went to open houses for two elementary schools in Cedar Rapids that are closing at the end of the school year. The Gazette ended up interviewing some of the same people, but I ran into someone no one else … Continue reading

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May 06

Closure year for Newburg school found

Grinnell-Newburg is the most lopsided school district name in terms of population disparity: one near 10,000, and the other unincorporated. Newburg, just east of the intersection of F17 and T38 in Jasper County, is typically ignored in the sports team … Continue reading

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Apr 05

North Tama, South Tama to share superintendents

Due to their wide disparity in enrollment, the North Tama and South Tama school districts don’t interact much. That’s going to change a bit. The North Tama Telegraph reports that the two districts will be sharing a superintendent. South Tama’s … Continue reading

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Apr 01

Hills Elementary to close

It was pretty much guaranteed to happen as soon as it was announced: The Iowa City school district is shutting down Hills Elementary. Stories: Gazette, Daily Iowan, KCRG (autoplay), KWWL (video only), Iowa Starting Line has a copy of the packet … Continue reading

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Mar 01

Hills could lose its school

The school building in Hills was constructed in 1965, just before the town was attached to the Iowa City school district. Six decades later, that school is in danger of closing. Iowa City has put Hills Elementary on the chopping … Continue reading

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Feb 22

Who has the right to choose school sales?

A column by Iowa Writers’ Collaborative member Cheryl Tevis has some photos of schools in her area: Boxholm, Pilot Mound, and Paton (the last just some bricks forming a monument to itself). The column covers many school-related bills still active in … Continue reading

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Feb 08

I dig in to school enrollment for 2023-24

My Substack piece this week is about the 2023-24 Iowa school enrollment numbers, with a map and two graphics. One of those graphics looks at Waterloo’s stagnant enrollment vs. Waukee’s astronomical growth. The Des Moines Register, in its evaluation of … Continue reading

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Dec 26

Old Rockford school burns down

The school building in Rockford that was built in 1899-1900 to replace one destroyed in a fire burned down itself on Dec. 22. This building in the center of town had been abandoned for some time. The “new addition” next … Continue reading

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Nov 17

Southeast Warren to close Lacona school

One of the few small districts in Iowa still maintaining buildings in three different communities is closing one of them. Southeast Warren’s intermediate school in Lacona, which holds grades 4-6, will close at the end of this school year. KCCI … Continue reading

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