Category Archives: Schools

Mar 17

North Tama closed ‘for an extended period’

Posted on Tuesday, March 17, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

From the school’s Facebook page: The North Tama County Community School District will be temporarily suspending all activities and instruction for an extended period starting on TUESDAY, MARCH 17. The school time will need to be made up to meet … Continue reading →

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Mar 14

North Winn land for county plow barn?

Posted on Saturday, March 14, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

The online Decorah News has a story about Winneshiek County reaching out to the Decorah school district regarding the North Winneshiek school property (and softball diamond). The county wants to build a snow plow barn, which would probably(?) result in … Continue reading →

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Feb 26

Wall Lake losing its school

Posted on Wednesday, February 26, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

June 24, 2017: The Wall Lake school complex embodies the structure repeated in so many towns in Iowa in the 20th century: A pre-Depression symmetrical brick structure (seen above), a gymnasium (1952), and an addition built in the 1960s. This … Continue reading →

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Feb 21

2019-20 enrollment update

Posted on Friday, February 21, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Iowa’s school districts start enrollment in the 2020s the same way as previous decades — with some of the rich getting richer and many of the poor getting poorer. Total Iowa public school certified enrollment, rounded, is palindromic: 490,094. About … Continue reading →

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Feb 20

Ventura losing its school

Posted on Thursday, February 20, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

August 17, 2017: The jersey of six-on-six basketball star Lynne Lorenzen of Ventura High School is in the State Historical Society’s “Iowa History 101 Mobile Museum.” At left is Natasha Kaiser-Brown’s medal from the 1992 Summer Olympics. I saw the … Continue reading →

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Feb 19

The optimism that was

Posted on Wednesday, February 19, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

October 16, 2009: Belle Plaine High School (1911), last used as Central Elementary during the school year this photo was taken, was torn down in 2016-17. I was going to use this as an intro to a post, but its … Continue reading →

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Jan 29

New MOC-FV elementary would eliminate Hospers school

Posted on Wednesday, January 29, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Finishing a miniseries of school bond blog posts, I suppose. A proposal to consolidate elementary schools in the MOC-FV school district would result in one town losing its school. A story on KTIV says the district is proposing a new … Continue reading →

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Jan 28

South Tama proposal would eliminate Toledo school

Posted on Tuesday, January 28, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Toledo could become the first county seat in Iowa without an active school building. That statement is both accurate and misleading. The South Tama High School building — and subsequent additions in the 21st century that eliminated all other sites … Continue reading →

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Jan 27

Cedar Rapids Prairie needs a bond issue. Again.

Posted on Monday, January 27, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

In early 2016, the College Community School District (Cedar Rapids Prairie) approved a $49.5 million bond issue. This paid for multiple major construction projects on the school’s sprawling campus site on the south side of Cedar Rapids. The campus is a … Continue reading →

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Dec 04

North Winn memorabilia given to Minnesota school district

Posted on Wednesday, December 4, 2019, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

July 25, 2016 If Laura Ingalls had lived in Burr Oak, Iowa, 130 years after she did, she would have been a student at North Winneshiek Elementary School. Unless, that is, being three miles from the Minnesota border, she went … Continue reading →

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