Information on schools in the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City area covers enough time and space that it was best to pull them out into their own post. Dates are from Cedar Rapids Gazette articles.
- Toddville merged with Alburnett in 1954 (1/24/54), although Toddville high schoolers went there in the fall of 1953 (8/11/53)
- College Community/Cedar Rapids Prairie:
- Started as a consolidated rural school district named College Township, consisting of nine one-room schools (1/14/51). I cannot find a news story specifically about consolidation, but a photo feature in the Gazette on April 26, 1953, said “College township reorganized its school district two years ago”.
- The January 1951 bond referendum, for a 12-classroom elementary building, failed by seven votes (1/20/51). The school immediately turned around and did it again weeks later (2/25/51, 3/2/51).
- The unified elementary building, delayed a year from original projections, opened in 1953. It later was named Prairie Heights and recently had significant renovations (1/20/51, 8/21/51, 9/28/52, 4/26/53, 12/11/20).
- Added Western school, on the south edge of the county, in 1953 (4/28/53).
- Became “College Community” when College Township, Ely, and Fairfax consolidated in 1954 (5/16/54, 6/8/54, 8/18/54), but did not field a high school right away (12/19/54)
- Those news articles contradict the school’s website, which is a year off in the introductory segment of the timeline (1954 vs. 1953)
- Needed the power plant at C Street SW and Ely Road SW for its property tax base (5/16/54), as the city of Cedar Rapids was almost entirely north of the Chicago & North Western Railroad tracks at the time (10/30/55)
- Was named “Prairie High” through a seventh-grader’s contest entry (4/1/55)
- The news article contradicts the school’s website, which is a grade off (seventh vs. eighth)
- Began phasing in students to its new school site in the 1956-57 school year, in a dance that at one point had first-graders in the new high school building (11/25/56). A separate bond issue was used to build a gymnasium (3/17/57). It did not have a graduating class until 1959.
- DID NOT close the Ely school in 1958, despite what the historical marker in front of the building says. That’s based on multiple articles after that date, its presence in the Cedar Rapids phone book, and the Prairie website. It was also used as a polling place through the 1960s. (6/2/60, 8/14/68, 10/27/71)
- Added Shueyville and Swisher in 1960 (9/11/60)
- Historic Cedar Rapids schools:
- Hayes Elementary, which opened in November 1915, got an addition in 1954. It was closed in 1981. At the time of the demolition of the oldest segment in 1982, it was billed as the oldest in the district, although archives show construction started no earlier than mid-1914. Presently, the 1954 addition houses Four Oaks human services agency. (6/25/14, 1/3/15, 4/12/81, 3/2/82, 2/7/04)
- For the next four decades, Garfield and Arthur, built in 1915, were the district’s oldest schools, but they are scheduled to close in 2024 (1/23/23).
- Garfield kept escaping the chopping block, including in 1985, when the district closed a 15-year-old school instead (3/17/85).
- Technically, Squaw Creek was 14½, since it wasn’t completed until the middle of the 1970-71 school year. Development in the area didn’t happen as expected (5/31/85).
- In April 2023, the Cedar Rapids school board voted to demolish Harrison Elementary, built in 1929-30. This decision overruled a task force and historic preservationists. A new elementary on the site that would combine Harrison and Madison attendance zones is planned to open in 2025. (5/9/23; also KCRG, 4/25/23)
- Clear Creek:
- Formed in 1961 as a consolidation of Clear Creek Township, Cosgrove, Madison Township, Oxford, and Tiffin (6/11/61). (Wikipedia incorrectly says 1964.) The Madison Township school was used as an elementary at the start, in a building so old it had a water pump in front (9/3/61). I couldn’t find when that one closed.
- Cosgrove kept a high school for two years. “The Iowa Valley league, won by Cosgrove a year ago, is no longer in existence. Cosgrove and Oxford have joined together in the new Clear Creek reorganized district.” (11/21/63)
- Clear Creek’s high school moved from Oxford to Tiffin in 1970, following the failure of five bond issues and passage of a sixth (6/10/64, 5/4/66, 8/3/69, 2/15/70). The bond issues had varying locations for the proposed central high school.
- In the 21st century, unlike the 1980s, the now-Clear Creek Amana district doesn’t have any problems passing bond issues.
- And speaking of Amana: The oldest part of the current elementary school in Middle Amana opened February 1, 1954. It replaced a school building in South Amana from 1879 and one in Main Amana as well. The story was on the same page as the Toddville-Alburnett tipoff at the top of this list (1/24/54). That is how you bring a blog post full circle. 🙂