The News

Mid-Prairie Students Earn All-State Recognition in Speech Contest

Two groups from the Mid-Prairie Large Group Speech team earned All-State recognition as announced on Wednesday, Feb. 17. Both teams performed their pieces at the Iowa High School Speech …

Mid-Prairie Board hears facilities, search updates

In addition to approving the yearly audit, the Mid-Prairie Board of Education received updates from superintendent Mark Schneider regarding facilities and the search for a new middle school principal …

Mid-Prairie pre-school registration available

Enrollment for 2021-2022 preschool is currently happening at MPCSD Preschools from February 1, 2021 to March 15, 2021! Please complete the online enrollment form on the MPCSD website and submit if …

Mid-Prairie considers HVAC upgrade, prepares for principals search

During the work session portion of the regular school board meeting on Monday, Feb. 8, Mid-Prairie superintendent Mark Schneider informed the school board of problems with the HVAC controls in the …

Highland

Highland preschool sign-up March 30

Preschool sign-up for the 2021-22 school year will be held Tuesday, March 30 from 6-7 p.m. in the Highland Elementary library. To sign your child up for the three-year-old class, their birthday …

Highland debates facilities use, prom protocols, will continue requiring masks

At their regular meeting on Monday, Feb. 8, the Highland school board discussed how best to open their doors to outside groups while still preventing the spread of the …

Highland teachers prepare for vaccine

The school district is eagerly awaiting the vaccine distribution that could come to school employees starting sometime in February. Teachers have been put into the 1B group. We have been told that …

Highland students finalists for scholarships

Highland Senior Charlie Aicher has been selected as a Hagan Scholarship finalist. The Hagan Scholarship is a nationwide scholarship designed to help high-achieving students from small towns and …

Lone Tree

Supt. Crawford moves to full-time Highland contract

Lone Tree Community School District Superintendent Ken Crawford, who currently serves as superintendent for both Highland and Lone Tree schools, presented his resignation, effective June 30, to the …

Lone Tree Schools learn to adjust to handle 2020

When we look back over a year, there is always the tendency to state how quickly the year has gone. I do not believe that will be the case for 2020. I think everyone can remember a lot of the …

Rob Sladek appointed to Lone Tree School Board

Rob Sladek was appointed as the Lone Tree Board of Education’s newest member to fill the vacant seat left when former board member Joe Williams moved out of the district last month. Four …

Communication and family time key for online learners

Highland and Lone Tree schools have both applied to the state for online learning waivers, which have both been approved. Highland originally moved online on Nov. 17 due to a lack of …

Hillcrest Academy

Hillcrest Academy hosts open gym for 5-8th graders

Hillcrest Academy will host open gyms for 5th-8th graders on Sunday afternoons. Students can run with cross country coach Marty Gingerich from 3-3:30 p.m. and enjoy activities like volleyball, …

Hillcrest Academy presents fall production

This fall, the scheduled Hillcrest Academy production will take new direction due to current limitations on traditional performances. Three students selected monologues to prepare and perform in the …

Hillcrest cancels open gyms

Hillcrest Academy has canceled their Nov. 22 and Dec. 6 open gym dates but at this time plans to hold its next open gym on Dec. 20 from 3-4:30 p.m for students in fifth through eighth grades. The …

Gugel named new Mid-Prairie board president, board approves esports and girls basketball sharing agreement

Jeremy Gugel was named the next president of the Mid-Prairie Board of Education and Denise Chittick was named vice president. Both were immediately sworn in prior to the business …

Photo Galleries

12 area girls wrestle in state tournament

In 2019 there were 87. In 2020 there were 350. And in 2021 there were 457 wrestlers who competed in the Iowa Girls State Wrestling tournament. Five years ago, there were less than 100 girls …

A Running Faith

Race day always begins with a huddle. And a prayer. Less than 10 minutes before the Mid-Prairie girls cross country team was to successfully chase down a fourth consecutive state team title on …

Mid-Prairie presents play seven months in the making

At long last, Mid-Prairie High School students and staff were finally able to present “Three Fairy Godmothers,” the play they’d started working on in February. The actors were …

Front Runner

Danielle Hostetler chases golf carts. Really. Since late August, when Hostetler won her first high school cross country race in school-record time, the Mid-Prairie freshman has been chasing …

Alburnett ends Huskies’ season

Highland’s football season ended with a 40-19 loss to Alburnett in the first round of the playoffs on Oct. 16. The Huskies recorded their third-highest offense output of the season with 294 …