Tag: Cedar

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Cedar Rapids newest school to be named ‘Trailside Elementary’

Cedar Rapids newest school to be named ‘Trailside Elementary’

University opening in drop 2024 to change Arthur, Garfield elementary faculties

An operator spots steel roofing onto a pile as the Arthur Annex at Arthur Elementary Faculty in northeast Cedar Rapids is demolished by personnel from D.W. Zinser of Walford on Dec. 19, 2022. The demolition will make space for building of the new elementary college combining scholar populations from Arthur and Garfield elementary faculties. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

The Arthur Annex at Arthur Elementary College in northeast Cedar Rapids is demolished by personnel from D.W. Zinser of Walford on Dec. 19, 2022. The demolition will make place for development of the new elementary faculty combining student populations from Arthur and Garfield elementary educational institutions. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Arthur Elementary School in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday, April 28, 2015. (The Gazette)

Garfield Elementary University in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday, April 28, 2015. (The Gazette)

CEDAR RAPIDS — The newest elementary faculty in the Cedar Rapids Neighborhood University District — opening fall 2024 — will be named Trailside Elementary Faculty.

Trailside Elementary, below design at 2630 B Ave. NE, will exchange Arthur and Garfield elementary schools as aspect of the district’s facility grasp program. The name was unanimously accepted by the Cedar Rapids faculty board Monday.

Arthur Elementary Principal Jennifer Nurre and Garfield Elementary Principal Pleasure Lengthy frequented just about every classroom in their schools to get university student enter on the name.

They read a e book termed “Alma and How She Received Her Name” by Juana Martinez-Neal. It is a tale about a very little female who miracles why her identify is so long and learns the exclusive that means behind each individual just one of her names.

“The youngsters were incredibly innovative,” Nurre reported. One particular student wanted to name the university “after their grandma simply because she can make good cookies.”

“Their explanations ended up all so sweet. It was enjoyment to read the submissions and why the identify was essential to them. A delightful knowledge,” Nurre explained.

There ended up 80 pupil and staff members submissions and 16 submissions from the neighborhood. After accumulating name submissions from college students, personnel and families, the record was narrowed to 6 names.

Employees at Arthur and Garfield elementary universities voted on the remaining six names to occur up with Trailside Elementary.

A bulk of local community responses advised the school be named after Superintendent Noreen Bush, who died in October. She was diagnosed with most cancers far more than two many years back.

Just before she died, Bush and her loved ones requested structures not be named in her honor, Nurre stated.

The strategy does not involve demolishing Arthur Elementary, 2630 B Ave. NE, and Garfield Elementary, 1201 Maplewood Dr. NE, which will be repurposed with community input.

Future techniques

Harrison and Madison elementary faculty attendance zones also will be put together by drop 2025. District officers continue to are thinking about two selections for how to do this: renovate the Harrison Elementary making, 1310 11th St NW, or establish on the residence of Madison Elementary, 1341 Woodside Dr. NW.

A 2018 services master strategy provided building 10 elementary universities and renovating 3 about the up coming 15 to 20 several years in the Cedar Rapids district. This method included the closure and repurposing of 8 faculties.

As part of this system, the Cedar Rapids district created and opened West Willow Elementary Faculty in August 2021, which replaced Coolidge Elementary School. Maple Grove Elementary Faculty opened in August 2022 to swap Jackson Elementary Faculty.

Every single new elementary college will serve involving 500 to 600 pupils. Right now, elementary faculties range in college student population, serving between 200 to 500 students, producing an inequitable distribution of means.

Improvements to Cedar Rapids elementary universities is currently being funded by Secure an Highly developed Vision for Education (Help save), a statewide university infrastructure revenue and companies tax.

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Home-schooling thrives in Cedar Valley, advocates say | Education News

Home-schooling thrives in Cedar Valley, advocates say | Education News

CEDAR FALLS — Nikki Britzman decided to home-school her oldest daughter when Lillia was in kindergarten.

She and her family have never looked back.

While the decision was made primarily for religious reasons, Britzman said the move has paid off in the quality of her children’s learning experience.

Lillia struggled with subtraction at the start, but home-schooling let the family focus on the issue. After finishing her junior year this spring, she’s a year ahead in math.

Britzman’s younger daughter had difficulty reading early on in her education. As she prepares to start high school in the fall, though, she’s become a bookworm with an interest in adoption law.

“It has been a blessing to our family,” Britzman said. “The variety of the educational opportunities that you have – there’s so much flexibility – our choice was totally affirmed.”

The Britzman family isn’t alone. In the years since it became legal in Iowa in 1991, home-schooling has seen steady annual growth, though U.S. Census Bureau surveys showed a slight dip of 0.6{e4f787673fbda589a16c4acddca5ba6fa1cbf0bc0eb53f36e5f8309f6ee846cf} in the early months of the pandemic.

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According to Jill Oppman, regional representative for Homeschool Iowa, the pandemic gave parents a glimpse of what homeschooling would look like as they shifted to remote learning. It also showed many of them that they may be more capable of taking their children’s education into their own hands than they’d previously thought. That’s the message Oppman and her peers are trying to promote.


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“Obviously we’re promoting home education,” Oppman said. “We think it’s a great option for schooling our children — and we think it’s the best, of course — but anyway it definitely is a viable type of education, and so we promote that.”

Joyce Pierpont, support representative for Classical Conversations-Cedar Falls, said the global, Christian home-school organization has seen growth at the national level during the pandemic thanks to its model of connecting families using the curriculum. Those who home-school, she explained, are still looking for community – something Classical Conversations is able to offer.

“During the pandemic, nobody could see each other, and we were all separate and socially distancing, and so people realized how important real relationships with one another were in general,” Pierpont said. “And so we’ve seen a lot of people come and be able to have that community aspect back into their lives and to be doing school together.”

Lillia Britzman said her experience has resulted in a greater range of social interactions and friends. She attributes it to the networking she’s done through Classical Conversations, which has resulted in an environment without cliques or “in” groups.

“We’ve got a 16-year-old in my class who’s 6’4”, an 18-year-old who’s not even five feet and they love making fun of each other,” Lillia said. “One of the kids went to the world’s robotics competition … in Houston, one kid wants to be an English teacher in Japan. Just stuff all the way across the spectrum.”

In particular, home-schooling has been widely sought out and utilized in evangelical Christian families. The home-schooling option, supporters argue, offers them the opportunity for greater religious freedom in addition to a quality education.

However, families aren’t home-schooling solely for religious reasons. As Oppman pointed out, many families also see the benefit it has in bonding as a family. That is what she has experienced with her children.

“I home-schooled my kids – they’re all adults now, but one thing I noticed is the closeness it brought to our family,” Oppman said. “My children love their siblings – they’re best friends – and we just really enjoyed that aspect of it.”

“They’re night-and-day different. One says, ‘yes,’ the other will say, ‘no,’ every single time,” Britzman said about her daughters. “But because they’ve had so much time together, they’ve had to learn to get along with each other, and a friendship has been born out of it that I don’t think would’ve been there otherwise, at least to the same degree.”

Additionally, the pandemic has seen home-schooling expand in other demographics. It’s become heavily adopted by Black families. According to a survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, home-schooling among Black households jumped from 3.3{e4f787673fbda589a16c4acddca5ba6fa1cbf0bc0eb53f36e5f8309f6ee846cf} early in 2020 to 16.1{e4f787673fbda589a16c4acddca5ba6fa1cbf0bc0eb53f36e5f8309f6ee846cf} later that year.

Home-schooling isn’t in the best interest of every family. The education of one’s own children is a full-time job, requiring a parent to dedicate their full attention to the educational pursuits of their children. It’s something that may not be possible for dual-income homes.

But for those who swear by home-schooling, the rewards outweigh the downsides – and the burden is worthwhile.

“It’s a juggling act,” Britzman said. “It’s one I’m really thankful I’ve gotten to do.”