Category Archives: Schools

Jan 20

Original Orient school will be demolished

Posted on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

The main building of Orient-Macksburg Community School will be demolished in the upcoming months, according to the Adair County Free Press. The school board and Orient City Council met in November to discuss the future of the school complex. For … Continue reading →

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Dec 22

Degner named Superintendent of the Year

Posted on Monday, December 22, 2025, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

The website K-12 Dive has named Iowa City superintendent Matt Degner its Superintendent of the Year. Degner is a North Tama graduate, hence the link here, and because it’s that time of year.

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Nov 06

Gladbrook-Reinbeck bond issue succeeds — barely

Posted on Thursday, November 6, 2025, at 11:00 AM by Jeff

Well, how about that. It took Grundy County voting more than 90% in favor, but it happened. I cover the G-R bond vote and many more, with a map of every district in the state that had a bond referendum, … Continue reading →

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Oct 29

1A volleyball regional finals: public vs. private

Posted on Wednesday, October 29, 2025, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Tonight 16 teams complete for eight places in the Class 1A state volleyball tournament. Like is so often the case as we reach this level, we have a bunch of public-private matchups. Most important for this blog is North Tama … Continue reading →

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Oct 28

GR puts out video before bond vote

Posted on Tuesday, October 28, 2025, at 10:10 AM by Jeff

The Gladbrook-Reinbeck school district has a video (linked here, attempt at embed below but YouTube doesn’t like that anymore) with a virtual tour of the addition that would be constructed if a bond referendum passes next week. The district has … Continue reading →

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Oct 14

‘Waterloo United High School’

Posted on Tuesday, October 14, 2025, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

When Waterloo East and Waterloo West merge into a new campus in 2028, that school will be called Waterloo United High School. KWWL covered the introduction of the new nickname, wordmark, logo, and colors last Wednesday. I hate the word … Continue reading →

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Sep 15

South Page extends sharing with Clarinda to 2030

Posted on Monday, September 15, 2025, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

In the previous school year (2024-25), the South Page school district resumed sending its upper grades to Clarinda after a short time with Bedford. Last September, shortly after the year began, the two schools agreed to make an extended contract. … Continue reading →

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Aug 06

Update on historic Toledo, CR school buildings

Posted on Wednesday, August 6, 2025, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Orient-Macksburg is dead-but-not-dead. We know that. But did you know that a campaign to save Harrison Elementary School in Cedar Rapids more or less succeeded? Also, Toledo’s historic school is being replaced by a site at the Iowa Juvenile Home.

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Mar 13

School enrollment map, 2000-25, and more

Posted on Thursday, March 13, 2025, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

This is the second part of my work on 2025 enrollment information. It’s a map of changes since 2000 for districts that haven’t substantially changed in size, and also the roundup of eye-popping Waukee statistics.

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Mar 11

School enrollment and ESAs for 2024-25

Posted on Tuesday, March 11, 2025, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

My number crunching for school enrollment has a new dimension: education savings accounts, or vouchers, and where students using them are from, and how much money the state could have given to public schools instead of private schools. By the … Continue reading →

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