Kirkwood opens Jones Regional Education Center in Monticello

Monticello High School junior Alanna Lawrence likes engineering and working on computer-animated design projects.

But her small school doesn't offer some of the more advanced science and math classes.

So Lawrence takes classes each afternoon at Kirkwood Community College's new Jones Regional Education Center, on the southeast edge of Monticello.

“It has to be a big school for those classes, but this center is available to a lot of students from all over,” the 16-year-old said as she worked on computer animation of a toy train Thursday for her Introduction to Engineering class.

Several hundred Kirkwood officials, community leaders and area educators gathered Thursday for the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new facility, which opened in August and has classrooms, computer labs and labs for welding, auto tech, nursing and construction.

“It's a first-class facility,” Kirkwood President Mick Starcevich said. “We are the community's college, and we live by those words.”

The facility is the result of numerous partnerships, and it's one of the first such collaborative ventures in the state, Starcevich said. Eight school districts in five counties send about 200 high school students to the center for career academy programs and advanced coursework. The 32,000-square-foot center also offers for-credit college courses, from both Kirkwood and Mount Mercy College, and continuing education programs.

Private donors and business partners gave more than $680,000 toward the $6 million project, Starcevich said. The eight high schools involved are Monticello, Cascade, Maquoketa Valley, Springville, Central City, Anamosa, Oelwein and Midland.

“I think everyone here today can realize how the community has supported this project so generously,” Kirkwood board of trustees Chairwoman Lois Bartelme said. “This is a learning hub for thousands of people each year.”

The collaborative model creates new learning opportunities in a rural setting, Kirkwood Executive Director for Secondary Programs Dave Bunting said, calling it “the future of education in rural Iowa.”