Category Archives: Schools

Feb 26

U is for Ute

July 20, 2012 The Ute school building last had students in May 2012, despite its continued inclusion on a statewide directory of active buildings in 2014-15. The Charter Oak-Ute school district sold it for $10,010 on Oct. 21, 2013, according … Continue reading

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Feb 24

V is for Vincent

July 6, 2011: Entrance to the Vincent school building in northeast Webster County. At the time the picture was taken, a sign outside said “Vincent Antique Galleries.” The Eagle Grove school district closed the Vincent attendance center at the end … Continue reading

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Feb 23

W is for Wyman

June 1, 2015: The Wyman building is on the cover of Barb and Dave Else’s book “For All the Small Schools: A Photographic Pursuit of Iowa’s Forgotten Schools.” The village of Wyman, east of Crawfordsville, has a scattering of houses and a Farm … Continue reading

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Feb 22

Carving up Farragut

The eastern quarter of Fremont County, including the towns of Farragut and Imogene, will become part of the Shenandoah school district next year. The Iowa Department of Education released its plans for the Farragut district, which will be forcibly dissolved … Continue reading

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Feb 19

X is for Exira

(Hey, that’s cheating! — Ed.) May 22, 2014: Five weeks after this picture was taken, the school building used in Exira for most of the 20th century was destroyed in a controlled burn. There is an easy way to tell … Continue reading

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Feb 18

Y is for Yarmouth

June 1, 2015: The Yarmouth school building in northwest Des Moines County. The Yarmouth school building is visible from a distance on X31. According to the Mediapolis 1975 centennial book, the school was still in use at that time, 14 … Continue reading

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Feb 17

Clutier’s 1942 championship team remembered

The Gazette looks back at small-town six-on-six champions from eastern Iowa from the first half of the 20th century. (Coincidentally, the listing of the towns one by one is the same narrative plan I had for something else involving girls’ … Continue reading

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Feb 16

Diagonal last sub-100-enrollment school standing

Iowa’s 2015-16 certified enrollment numbers were released last month. There was no press release dedicated to it (the annual Condition of Education report comes out at the same time). The overall public enrollment ticked up, but it’s from a trough … Continue reading

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Jan 26

North Tama to play football in Des Moines metro area

North Tama’s new football district includes its southwesternmost opponents ever, extending down to a school in the village of Norwoodville. Where is Norwoodville, you ask? Well, it certainly was not a place I have mapped out in the recently updated … Continue reading

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Jan 21

Lincoln Central was a zombie district for four years

Estherville-Lincoln Central, like many other small- to medium-sized school districts in Iowa, is consolidating all of its operations on one campus. In this case, there are separate buildings in one large area, and the newest addition will take the last … Continue reading

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