School News
Mid-Prairie

Changes to East/West Elementary grades, school calendar, cellphone policy under consideration at Mid-Prairie

WELLMAN A range of topics occupied the Mid-Prairie school board at their Jan. 27 work session; among those that would potentially most impact students and families are changes to the grades served …

Mid-Prairie not going to settle for mediocrity, board hears

WELLMAN When state education report cards came out in November, Mid-Prairie found itself looking at marks at the low end of the range: the elementary and middle schools were rated ‘acceptable’ …

Mid-Prairie board keeps employment incentives as-is, grateful for paid student lunch accounts

WELLMAN The Mid-Prairie school board opened their first meeting of 2025 with a new vision statement at the top of the agenda: “Every Student, Every Day.” Kalona resident and recent school …

Mid-Prairie teacher Kerri Bell honored with state teaching award

Kerri Bell, a second-grade teacher at Mid-Prairie East Elementary School in Kalona, has been named the recipient of the Iowa Excellence in Teaching about Agriculture award. Presented by the Iowa …
Highland

Highland and WACO Schools choose new Superintendent

RIVERSIDE Spencer Leuders, intermediate school principal at Central Dewitt, will be the new Superintendent of Schools at Highland Community Schools and WACO Community School District. …

Highland and WACO Schools cut superintendent search to 3 finalists

RIVERSIDE Bill Zywiec, Dean of Students at Highland High School and head boys basketball coach, has been named as one of three finalists for the Superintendent of Schools position shared between …

Highland bond vote holds

WASHINGTON The contest court held to determine if the vote on Highland’s bond measure this past November passed muster reached a decision Monday: yes, the bond vote passed with the 60% majority …

Highland Schools’ superintendent search produces candidate pool of 10

RIVERSIDE A search for a new superintendent for Highland Community Schools has produced a candidate pool of 10. Shannon Bisgard, a consultant with Grundmeyer Leadership Services, discussed …
Lone Tree

Lone Tree School recognized for excellence

Lone Tree Community School is proud to announce that it has been honored with the prestigious Better Together 2030 “Inspire” Award. This award recognizes educational institutions that go above …

Holiday spirit: Lone Tree forgives school lunch debts

LONE TREE It can be hard to catch up once you’ve fallen behind, and the Lone Tree school district knows this. In an act of holiday spirit, the district is making sure families don’t have to …

ALL THAT JAZZ

DES MOINES When dancers from Lone Tree and Mid-Prairie high schools arrived in Des Moines on Dec. 4, their hearts raced with excitement and nerves. They had been preparing for this weekend since …

Lone Tree CSD -- First Day of School

Lone Tree Community Schools had their first day of school on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024.
Hillcrest Academy

The phone-free school: a mid-year report

KALONA In August, at the start of the 2024-2025 school year, Hillcrest Academy announced it would go phone-free, all day every day, as part of a new mental health initiative. “The goal of …

Hillcrest Academy -- First Day of School

For the first time, Hillcrest Academy welcomed grades 6-12 on the first day of school, Aug. 23, 2024.

Educating the educators: AI in classrooms

IOWA CITY In a world full of misinformation, it can be difficult to tell what is real, and what is fake. As artificial intelligence (AI) has made its debut into everyday life, it has brought fake …

All eyes on the future

KALONA Hillcrest Academy experimented with a sixth grade program last school year, introducing a class of students who will end up being great ambassadors for the program. That is because next …
Photo Galleries
Band Night
The Mid-Prairie band took the field for a terrific halftime performance on Senior Night, October 11.
Photo gallery: Lone Tree graduation 2024
LONE TREE The Lone Tree Community School District hosted it's graduation ceremony on Sunday, May 26.  Here, Valedictorian Ethan Bockelman, and X, the student who had the second best …