It’s that time of year again—winter weather is just around the corner! Snow, ice, and cold can sometimes mean schedule changes. We want to make sure you have the information you need to stay updated on our inclement weather announcements, including school cancellations, delays, and early releases. 

The Iowa Department of Education released the state’s School Performance Profiles for the 2023-24 school year. These profiles provide a snapshot of how each school is performing across the state, helping us see where our schools are excelling and where we will continue to improve. 

The profiles consider many factors, including student proficiency, growth, absenteeism, graduation rates, and postsecondary readiness. However, we have significant concerns with some changes that have been made, new to this year, in the state’s ranking framework. We want to give you a better understanding of how this affects our schools and share our perspective on what these ratings mean.

Officials of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) have announced the names of approximately 16,000 Semifinalists in the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. We are proud to announce that we have 22 Semifinalists from our District, with four from City High, two from Liberty High, and 16 from West High.

We have received additional guidance regarding student attendance expectations based on new state regulations. We want to provide more information about our approach this year, including the state-mandated changes, particularly regarding absence exceptions and the related Infinite Campus attendance codes.

Students at North Central, Northwest, and Southeast have officially commenced their first year of middle school education in the Iowa City Community School District. For the first time, sixth-grade students report to secondary buildings rather than elementary schools.

“There is definitely a lot of energy with 1,000 kids in the building,” said North Central Middle School Principal Colby Miller. “We are off to a great start.”