The News

Mid-Prairie

Wellbeing initiative for Mid-Prairie staff in the works

WELLMAN A KCRG news story last week may have raised blood pressures of Mid-Prairie school board members, but you wouldn’t have known it at their regular business meeting on Monday night. The …

Work in progress at Mid-Prairie East Elementary School.

Parking, paving improvements underway at M-P elementary schools

WELLMAN, KALONA In early 2023, the Mid-Prairie facilities committee determined improved parking was a top concern for the district’s two elementary schools, East, in Kalona, and West, in …

Complaint leads to investigation of 3 Mid-Prairie administrators

WELLMAN The Mid-Prairie school board met for a two-hour closed session Monday night in response to notification that the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners (BOEE) “found probable cause to …

How will new legislation affect Mid-Prairie? Board considers

WELLMAN Gov. Reynolds signed two controversial bills into law earlier this year that directly affect schools: the first, signed in March, restructured the state’s Area Education Agencies (AEAs), …

Highland

Pay for Highland Schools subs going up by $5

RIVERSIDE Pay for substitute teachers in Highland Community Schools will be going up $5 a day in the 2024-25 school year. The Highland School Board approved an increase in daily rates for …

Highland Schools to place $15M bond referendum on November ballot

RIVERSIDE Locker-room improvements and a new multi-purpose center at Highland High School, along with additional classrooms at Highland Elementary, will be in the hands of voters in November. …

Highland sets calendar for 2024-25 school year

RIVERSIDE The first day of school in Highland’s new four-day week will be August 23 for the 2024-25 school year. The school year will end May 28, two days after Memorial Day. The …

Highland School Board appoints Moyer as Business Manager

RIVERSIDE Autumn Moyer, who has worked in human resources at several Eastern Iowa school districts, has been appointed as the new Secretary and Business Manager for the Highland School Board. …

Lone Tree

Lone Tree preschool program to remain unchanged

LONE TREE After spending the last few months periodically pondering a change to Lone Tree’s preschool program, the school board finally made a decision during their sole June meeting …

Lone Tree board adds to public purpose policy

LONE TREE The Lone Tree School Board met on Wednesday, May 1, for their regularly scheduled workshop meeting. Here, the board discussed board policy 705.4.R1: Expenditures for a Public Purpose, …

Lone Tree addresses public purpose policy, approves teacher contracts

LONE TREE Lone Tree’s School Board will meet with the Iowa Association of School Boards – IASB – to receive training and guidance for policies 705.4 and 705.4 R1, …

Lone Tree speech, drama students perform for community, take home awards

LONE TREE Lone Tree high school English teacher Tanya McCarty hosted an end-of-year speech and drama award show on Saturday, April 6, to award the students who excelled in speech and drama …

Hillcrest Academy

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 …

‘A deep sense of belonging’

KALONA When Hillcrest Academy set a course to open sixth grade classes for the 2023-24 school year, they published a middle school purpose statement which reads as follows: “The middle …

Front row: Marvin Marner, Bette Kauffman, LaVerta Yoder Butterbaugh, Janet Yoder Schulz, Sheryl Yoder Miller, Charlene Yoder Rhodes. Second row: Keith Troyer, Ron Guengerich, Bob Yoder, Marlene Troyer Miller, Bob Miller, Dale Rhodes. Third row: Fred Roth, Jay Brenneman, Leon Graber, Patty Mishler Roswell, Dan Miller, John Gingerich, Wayne Beachy, and Arlen Hershberger.

IMS Class of 1963 Reunion

Sixty years after graduation, class members of 1963 met Sept. 20 and 21 in Homestead, Iowa to see old friends and catch up on what has happened in our lives since last time we met. The setting for …

Peighton Ford's pig photo took first place in the 2023 photography contest

Photo contest offers students gateway to appreciation, connection, and career

KALONA For middle and high school students attending Pathway, Hillcrest Academy, and Mid-Prairie schools (including the home school), the time has come to get out their cameras and submit photos …

Photo Galleries

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 …

Hillcrest Academy’s 77th graduating class (L-R): Alexander Mata Canchola, Naomi Catherine Danker, Abigail Grace Kacmarynski, Breanna Rivera, and Mason Jack Swartzendruber.

Hillcrest Academy Class of 2024

Mid-Prairie Class of 2024

Photo gallery: Highland's graduation 2024

RIVERSIDE Highland celebrated the class of 2024 with a graduation ceremony on Sunday, May 19. After the graduates took their seat, different ones were honored due to different levels …

Photo gallery: Hillcrest junior/senior banquet

KALONA Hillcrest Academy hosted their Junior/Senior Banquet at Upper Deer Creek Church on Saturday, May 4. Students paired up at Lower Deer Creek Church before making the trek to the upper …