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Old 01-28-2012, 04:27 PM
 
5 posts, read 11,375 times
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Hi

We are moving from MN and I like the town of North Liberty. How are the elementary schools? What is the status of any new high school? I was told that new students have to go to City instead of West. Mine are only jr high age- does that make a difference?

Also- everybody keeps telling me the schools "are all great" Why do they have such low ratings on the great school website? Is the Clear Creek School district more challenging?

Thanks!

Last edited by Minnesota MOM 3; 01-28-2012 at 04:38 PM..
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Old 01-30-2012, 07:39 PM
 
Location: Chariton, Iowa
681 posts, read 3,026,578 times
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As far as I know, the North Liberty elementaries are very good. With the exception of Penn, the schools are all in fairly new facilities and their test scores seem to be very good.

The high school situation seems to be very much in flux last I knew. The district knows the situation as is is unsustainable--but they don't know what to do about it. Last I knew, there was talk of either 1. Building a North Liberty High School, 2. Building a combined City/West 9th grade building, or 3. Expand City and West somehow.

I don't think the district will be able to fix the situation in time for your Jr. High student. They'll probably go to City (which is a great school in it's own right). By the time your elementary students come up, the district should have worked something out...but they are DARN slow about this whole process.

I've heard some really good things about CCA...I know one of the teachers up there and it seems to be a very well run district. One thing to watch for...it's a smaller district, so if your kids (esp. your Junior High-er) are coming from a big school, it will be a little bit of a culture shock.

Hope that helps!
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Old 01-30-2012, 10:11 PM
 
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I think you would need to call the district administration to get a clear answer on where your kids would go to school...I'm not sure if that would apply if your kids would be entering the school district at junior high age.

I'd agree with the previous poster that a new high school will probably not be built in time for your junior high kids. Personally I think that is a good thing, because I think a new high school would stretch resources tremendously.

I'm not sure I'd look to the great schools website for definitive information. There is inaccurate information regarding one of the schools in our district in the comment/review section. I tried to contact the great schools website about changing it, and they never did.
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Old 04-01-2012, 09:00 PM
MG3
 
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You should look at the test scores of the Iowa City Community School district schools at https://www.edinfo.state.ia.us/data/...asp?s=00090000.

A lot of people want a third high school built because West is crowded and City High school is landlocked and the building is old (although fairly well maintained). A lot of students would flourish in a smaller school which the third high school would start out as. The resources are there but it won't be built in time for your students. It might not be built at all if those who are afraid of it taking away some of their choices at West/City or worry that it would drain high performing kids away from City have their way. People are afraid of change and protective of what they have.

Penn is overcrowded right now. I would look at the Clear Creek Amana school district or Solon or other schools in Iowa City like Horn.
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Old 04-01-2012, 10:27 PM
 
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What are ICCSD laws regarding school selection? Meaning can I send my kids to Weber Elementary if I live in Coralville? I'm almost sure the answer is no, but some states and and/or local ordinances allow that. Is that true for Iowa?
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Old 04-01-2012, 10:29 PM
 
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I guess I just found the answer to my question above on ICCSD website:
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Old 04-02-2012, 06:36 AM
 
Location: uk
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bluevector, thanks for the link. it explains everything
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Old 04-02-2012, 12:53 PM
 
708 posts, read 876,071 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MG3 View Post
You should look at the test scores of the Iowa City Community School district schools at https://www.edinfo.state.ia.us/data/...asp?s=00090000.

A lot of people want a third high school built because West is crowded and City High school is landlocked and the building is old (although fairly well maintained). A lot of students would flourish in a smaller school which the third high school would start out as. The resources are there but it won't be built in time for your students. It might not be built at all if those who are afraid of it taking away some of their choices at West/City or worry that it would drain high performing kids away from City have their way. People are afraid of change and protective of what they have.

Penn is overcrowded right now. I would look at the Clear Creek Amana school district or Solon or other schools in Iowa City like Horn.
I don't agree that City is landlocked. An addition might not be the most attractive thing, but building an addition would be a lot cheaper in terms of yearly budgeting than building a new high school.

It really shouldn't be the business of the district to build a small school so that a small amount of kids would flourish.

As far as the resources being there, they are only there to build the school, not to pay for the extra yearly operating costs.
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Old 04-02-2012, 09:02 PM
MG3
 
14 posts, read 30,131 times
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Default New High School Should Be Built

Reasonable citizens can certainly disagree about what the business of the school district should be. As I see it, the district should be looking out for the students of the future along with the students of today, and there is strong growth in the North Corridor that would support a third high school along with people elsewhere who would be willing to open enroll into it. City High is landlocked. The best it could do would be to take over a nearby elementary school and it still wouldn't have a lot of space compared to West.

Some parents are already open enrolling kids into Clear Creek Amana School district which means the district loses general funds. It also loses general funds when people move to Solon or the Highland area to avoid Iowa City schools. Some of the loss of those general funds would be avoided if a third high school opened.

Iowa City school district does have one small high school already--Tate. While a 100 person school is very small, an 800 person high school, which is what the third high school could look like is not small by many district's standards. You're right there is money in SILO and PPEL to build it. The general fund has less pressure on it than the district has led people to believe and could accommodate operational costs.
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Old 04-02-2012, 10:15 PM
 
708 posts, read 876,071 times
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Looking out for the students of the future means looking out for every student that will inevitably be affected by the budget stretching that would occur.

I think all citizens would also deserve a clear explanation of what would happen to class size and extracurricular activities if we have two programs instead of three.

Will parents at a third high school be okay with reduced course offerings or reduced after school activities.

Do you have specific knowledge about the budget that hasn't been disclosed? I hear many people make statements like that, but without providing any detail.

Now you have some eastside parents that want to build a new elementary..where do their needs fit in?

As far as Tate goes, Tate isn't at all trying to operate like a traditional high school with all the bells and whistles and every possible course offering.

People have a variety of reasons they open enroll out, some good and not so good. I'm not sure that every family who has open enrolled out of the district will return if the new high school is built.

City High has room to build an addition. I don't know what you mean by landlocked but there is plenty of room in the front of the school to support the building of an addition.
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