Category Archives: Schools

Jun 22

The rise of the 400-square-mile high school, part 3

Posted on Wednesday, June 22, 2016, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

July 25, 2012: The cornerstone of the Boxholm school, last serving as Southeast Webster-Grand Junior High. The Boxholm school is not currently in use. By the summer of 2013, residents of the Corwith-Wesley district knew their high school was a … Continue reading →

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Jun 21

The rise of the 400-square-mile high school, part 2

Posted on Tuesday, June 21, 2016, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

December 28, 2008: Every window in the Russell school building was boarded up shortly after the district was forcibly dissolved. Students in Russell now go to Chariton, which encompasses about 85% of Lucas County. Lucas County was the home of … Continue reading →

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Jun 20

The rise of the 400-square-mile high school, part 1

Posted on Monday, June 20, 2016, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

First in a series on the geography of, and changes to, rural Iowa school districts in the past 55 years, with emphasis on the last 15. For nearly 50 years the number of places in Iowa where one high school … Continue reading →

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Jun 09

Baxter gives Collins-Maxwell a deadline

Posted on Thursday, June 9, 2016, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

The Baxter school district is telling Collins-Maxwell that progress on whole-grade sharing needs to happen by mid-July or Baxter “will begin exploring other sharing options,” reports the Newton Daily News. Collins-Maxwell is going to be sharing some administrative positions in … Continue reading →

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Jun 02

Final bell in Walnut

Posted on Thursday, June 2, 2016, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Students walked out the doors of the Pottawattamie County town of Walnut for the last time last week. Next year it will be part of a fully consolidated AHSTW. (The population on the town sign mentioned in the story is … Continue reading →

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May 27

Harmony’s final gift

Posted on Friday, May 27, 2016, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Harmony High School graduated its last class on Sunday. The 21 seniors each received a $2,900 scholarship, reported the Burlington Hawk Eye (if that’s unavailable, AP version). The school distributed the money from two alumni estates. Juniors and sophomores were … Continue reading →

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May 26

M is for Moneta

Posted on Thursday, May 26, 2016, at 10:03 AM by Jeff

July 21, 2012: The school is one of the very few buildings left in Moneta, barely on the west side of the O’Brien/Clay county line. The tiny Moneta school district was caught in a tug of war between Hartley and Everly … Continue reading →

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May 24

Corwith school building gone

Posted on Tuesday, May 24, 2016, at 10:10 AM by Jeff

June 19, 2015: The back of the Corwith school building. The Des Moines Register was there last week to cover the demise of the century-old school building in Corwith. The district dissolved at the end of last school year. Nearly … Continue reading →

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May 23

What’s going on with Collins-Maxwell?

Posted on Monday, May 23, 2016, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

April 17, 2016: The present Collins-Maxwell Elementary in Collins was built in the 1990s. Although Collins-Maxwell and Baxter have shared sports for nearly three decades now, they have never done any integration beyond that. Now, attempts at talking about whole-grade … Continue reading →

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May 19

N is for Numa

Posted on Thursday, May 19, 2016, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

September 13, 2011: The Numa school is now an archery business, a successful repurposing of a school building. Numa. Clutier. Steamboat Rock. Wiota. In the 1940s, these map dots that don’t have their own schools anymore, along with Numa’s neighbor … Continue reading →

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