The Cedar Rapids Community School District is one step closer to replacing retiring principal Mary Wilcynski. Deputy Superintendent Gary O’Malley announced on Thursday that he and Superintendent Dave Benson are interviewing three finalists – Brian Coppess, Aaron Stecker and Jason Kline – to take over as Kennedy High School’s top administrator. Coppess is an associate principal at [...]

Less than two weeks after Superintendent Pam Ewell announced her resignation, the Mount Vernon school board is beginning down the path to replace its head administrator. During a special meeting on April 29, board members approved hiring G. Tryon and Associates to help the district conduct its superintendent search. The board will meet again at [...]

The Clear Creek Amana school board has tentatively selected Tim Kuehl as the district’s new superintendent. Board members and the district’s legal counsel are working on developing a contract for Kuehl, who is currently the superintendent of the Gladbrook-Reinbeck Community School District and principal of the district’s Reinbeck Elementary School. Board President Eileen Schmidt said [...]

Jefferson High School kicked off a remodeling project of the school’s cafeteria Tuesday morning. Most of the current cafeteria equipment is original to the building and about 20 years past its life span, school officials said. The remodeling project will involve replacing that equipment, remodeling the dining area, installing new technology, and improving the layout [...]

Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids is Iowa’s best according to U.S News and World Report’s 2013 ranking of the nation’s top public high schools. The building took 550th nationally out of the 4,805 schools ranked on this year’s list, which was based on 2010-11 data on student math and reading proficiency as well as [...]

The Kennedy High School community is set to meet this week with five finalists to replace retiring principal Mary Wilcynski. Franklin Middle School Principal Shannon Bucknell and Aaron Stecker, associate principal at Kennedy High School, are the two internal Cedar Rapids Community School District candidates for the position. The remaining three finalists are Cynthia Schneider, [...]

After almost four years in the post, Pam Ewell resigned as superintendent of the Mount Vernon Community School District during a regular meeting that stretched late into Monday evening. The board approved her resignation by a 5-2 vote. After more than an hour in closed session discussing Ewell’s future with the district, the board reconvened [...]

DES MOINES — Teacher evaluations have emerged as one of key divisions between Republican and Democratic lawmakers looking to make a deal on education reform. Thursday saw a flurry of activity by members of the House-Senate conference committee with two proposals being offered — one from Democrats to Republicans in the morning and one going the other way in [...]

The Washington Post has listed seven Iowa schools on its annual ranking of the nation’s most challenging public high schools. Washington High School in Cedar Rapids placed 408th on the list of over 1,900 schools, which according to the Post represents 9 percent of the 22,000 institutions that qualified for the list. Inclusion in the [...]

City High School will host an Internet safety course for teenagers and parents Monday night. The event, sponsored by the school’s Parent, Student, Teacher Organization, will include Iowa City police officer Jorey Bailey and City High athletic director D’Anne Kroemer talking about the use and misuse of social media. The course is open to the [...]