Articles Tagged: Cedar Rapids Community School District

Also in this week’s Government Notes roundup, the Cedar Rapids City Council has given its OK for historic landmark designation of a former school site.

No direct financial ties, but past associations raise questions

New Cedar Rapids school board President Jennifer Neumann spoke about taking “accountability” and establishing trust with the community before being appointed Monday by fellow board members in a 4-3 vote.

As the Cedar Rapids school district faces a decline of 622 students this year, school leaders are asking the community to work with them to develop a strategic plan to increase enrollment and address facility and staffing needs.

Using the learning model called Instructional Empowerment, students in the Cedar Rapids school district work in teams of three or four to tackle questions posed by the teacher, fostering a culture of respectful discourse and a sense of belonging in the classroom.

More than 54,000 Iowa high school students are jointly enrolled in community college credit coursework, a number that’s been steadily climbing for the last decade.

Iowa state Sen. Molly Donahue is calling for the resignation of three Cedar Rapids school board members after a multimillion dollar school bond referendum failed voter approval Tuesday.

Cedar Rapids schools Superintendent Tawana Grover wants to harness the momentum gained in Tuesday’s failed bond referendum vote to build a school district the community backs.

‘Mixed emotions’ felt by new board members as multimillion-dollar school bond referendum fails to pass

Unofficial results show the Cedar Rapids school district’s $117 million bond referendum narrowly failing by less than 1 percent — fewer than 200 votes short of approval. The referendum received just over 59 percent approval but requires a supermajority of 60 percent to pass.

A surge in student hunger — brought on by the suspension of a federal food assistance program beginning Saturday — will manifest as crisis in classrooms, decreased academic performance and increased behavioral challenges, Iowa school leaders say.

Johnson STEAM Academy arts integration coordinator Christina Farrell is guiding educators at the Cedar Rapids elementary school in infusing art into their lessons daily.

At Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids, the kitchen is a “maze” said Dana Visek, one of the kitchen managers at the school. More preparation space is needed, and meals are served on single-use plates because the high school does not have a dishwasher. All dishes used for cooking and serving are washed by hand in a three hole sink.

A $117 million school bond referendum — created with more than a year of community input — is headed to voters in the Cedar Rapids school district Nov. 4.

Students at Johnson STEAM Academy in Cedar Rapids painted a snow plow blade as part of a program that decorates city plows ahead of the winter season. Crews will use the blade on roads near the locations that created the artwork and give people a chance to see the artwork in action.