Category Archives: Schools

Apr 07

Original Exira school to be burned down

Posted on Monday, April 7, 2014, at 10:21 AM by Jeff

Still in spindle-clearing mode… After consolidation of Exira and Elk Horn-Kimballton, there wasn’t a need for two school sites in Exira. The district has decided to burn down the multi-story brick downtown site April 27. Exira still has a school, … Continue reading →

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Mar 27

North Liberty is finally getting a high school

Posted on Thursday, March 27, 2014, at 12:48 AM by Jeff

The catch: It’s going to be part of the Iowa City school district. The district awarded a design contract Tuesday for a building that would open in 2017. The new high school will be on the east side of North … Continue reading →

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Mar 19

Stanwood school to close in 2015

Posted on Wednesday, March 19, 2014, at 11:20 AM by Jeff

July 6, 2013: Detail of stone carving over entrance to original Stanwood school building. KCRG has the story, which is also embedded below. This move by North Cedar does something that hasn’t happened in a long time, if at all: … Continue reading →

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Mar 10

Corwith-Wesley pursuing dissolution

Posted on Monday, March 10, 2014, at 11:49 AM by Jeff

In my piece last year about school districts in north-central Iowa (linked at right, and here), I mentioned the Corwith-Wesley and LuVerne school districts, which have been together for years but are technically still independent, were going to enter grade-sharing … Continue reading →

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Feb 24

Private school building in Peosta demolished

Posted on Monday, February 24, 2014, at 11:25 AM by Jeff

St. John the Baptist school and rectory were torn down last week, reports KWWL.

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Feb 18

Geneseo featured in article about abandoned schools

Posted on Tuesday, February 18, 2014, at 2:06 PM by Jeff

Sept. 23, 2011: The abandoned Geneseo Township school building east of Buckingham, like many pre-WWII schools in Iowa, had an addition built later. The addition area was used for apartments for a time. In my travels across Iowa, I have … Continue reading →

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Feb 14

Alta-Aurelia switches school calendar to hours

Posted on Friday, February 14, 2014, at 1:16 PM by Jeff

At this point, it will be more newsworthy when a school district decides to measure the next school year in days, but here’s another data point from the Cherokee Chronicle Times. On a related note, Cedar Rapids’ school year won’t … Continue reading →

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Feb 05

AHSTW joins the five-letter acronym club

Posted on Wednesday, February 5, 2014, at 10:48 AM by Jeff

Avoca-Hancock-Shelby-Tennant and Walnut, which have been sharing football for years, are going all-in on whole-grade sharing (links: KMA, Omaha World-Herald). This school year, Walnut is the 10th-smallest school district in the state by certified enrollment, but the second-smallest that still … Continue reading →

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Feb 04

Prairie Valley, SE Webster-Grand on track to create state’s second-largest district

Posted on Tuesday, February 4, 2014, at 12:29 PM by Jeff

July 25, 2012: This new landscaping at the Boxholm school addition may not have students enjoying it for long. The main building was constructed in 1916. When the football district assignments came out, I noticed that Southeast Webster-Grand wasn’t listed … Continue reading →

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Jan 30

North Tama’s enrollment drop among largest in state

Posted on Thursday, January 30, 2014, at 4:04 PM by Jeff

Meanwhile, Waukee added NT’s entire student population in one year. Again. The 2013-14 Iowa enrollment numbers, released last week by the Department of Education, show a positive change statewide from the previous school year. However, those gains are not spread … Continue reading →

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