Student Built House Featured in Parade of Homes | |
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For the past 8 months, 19 CRCSD students in the CRCSD Student Built House Program worked together to construct a new home at 100 Westbrook Ct, Hiawatha. This marks the 50th home to be completed since the program began in 1972. This year’s students put in roughly 7,000 hours to complete the 1,722 sf home. Through the building process, students are able to apply learning from their classes in mathematics, communication, reading, and science in addition to further developing their skills in work ethic, problem solving, and responsibility.
This new home has already been sold and will be featured in the Cedar Rapids Home Builders Association Parade of Homes in the coming weeks (see dates below).
There is an Open House planned for May 18th for the community to tour the home and talk with the builders.
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Parade of Homes (admission fee)
- April 29 and 30, Noon - 5:00 pm
- Thursday, May 4, 5 :00 - 8:00 pm
- May 6 and 7, Noon - 5:00 pm
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Community Open House
Thursday, May 18, 2023
3:30 - 5:30 pm
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Superintendent Dr. Grover continued her ‘listening tours’ with district staff this week. During the sessions she asks for staff feedback on the current status of the district and what changes they would like to see.
“I am receiving valuable feedback from our employees. The information we learn from these conversations will help create the district’s strategic plan and help us make CRCSD a great place for all of our students, staff, and community,” states Dr. Grover.
Dr. Grover also plans to start a community listening tour sometime this summer. Dates will be shared once they have been scheduled. We are also still taking your feedback via this six question survey.
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Two major facility plans were voted on at Monday’s Board of Education meeting.
The CRCSD Board of Education Directors voted 5-1, with one member abstaining, to approve the agreement between CRCSD and Cedar Rapids Economic Alliance for the co-location of City View High School, Iowa BIG, and the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance. City View Community High School is the district’s first magnet high school. This location will provide students access to community leaders, nonprofits, and business leaders. 150 students have already shown interest in attending City View High School for the 2023-2024 school year.
The Board also voted 6-1 for constructing a new building to replace the current facility at the Harrison Elementary site, 1310 11th Street NW, Cedar Rapids, IA. Once complete, this building will house both Harrison and Madison students. This plan is a viable solution for providing a future-ready learning environment for students and staff while also addressing the needs and concerns of the various stakeholder groups. This is the fourth new school building in the CRCSD’s Elementary Facilities Master Plan. The first building was West Willow which opened in 2021, Maple Grove opened in 2022 and Trailside, which will open in 2024. The new building at the Harrison site is projected to open in Fall 2025.
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District Wide Phone Outage - May 3rd
Next Wednesday, May 3rd, the district will be performing an upgrade to our phone system. The upgrade will start at 6:00 pm and will last up to 3.5 hours. During the upgrade, all district phones will not be able to receive calls. If you need to communicate with district staff during that time, please send an email. We are sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience while we make this upgrade.
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Kenwood Leadership Academy Arbor Day Celebration
Kindergarten through second grade students at Kenwood Leadership Academy gathered to celebrate Arbor Day. Cedar Rapids city officials were on hand to read the yearly proclamation to honor the day and take part in the celebration. The students got the opportunity to work alongside crews from the Cedar Rapids Forestry division to assist in planting three new trees on the school grounds. They also learned about the importance of trees and got a first hand look at the city's vast tree maintenance equipment.
"Our kids got the opportunity today to get their hands dirty, to keep our earth clean!" says Tricia Weber, first grade KLA teacher.
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Kennedy Wind Symphony Meet with Composer
“When people think about composers of music, they automatically think of old or dead people, Mr. Holmquist was neither and that was refreshing!” says Grant Barnes, Kennedy senior and trumpet player.
The Kennedy High School Wind Symphony performed three movements of Holmquist’s piece called, A New Orleans Symphony. Holmquist joined the symphony class via zoom to talk with students about the inspiration behind each movement and to critique the performance.
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"It's one thing to hear your band director tell you what something means, or how to play a certain section of music to portray style and composer intent. To hear it straight from the composer's mouth gives that work and intent validity that I cannot give the students myself. It was also great to hear him tell the students that they are on the right path and are playing his music extremely well. Again, to hear that from the composer himself is extra validation!" says Stephanie Williamson, Band Director. | |
Highlighting our Volunteers
The annual Recognition of Outstanding Volunteers in the Cedar Rapids Community School District took place on Monday, April 24th. CRCSD staff nominated 33 deserving community members to receive the award. These outstanding volunteers generously give their time and talents in our schools to help with the academic success of our students. You can read about all of the award winners here. Also, be watching for the honorees’ on the CRCSD Facebook and Instagram pages.
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Students and staff from Grant Wood Elementary, McKinley STEAM Academy Magnet School, Roosevelt Creative Corridor Business Academy, and Harrison Elementary celebrated Earth Day by cleaning up the school grounds and surrounding neighborhoods. | |
On Tuesday, a brass quintet from Orchestra Iowa shared music with the 4th graders at Van Buren Elementary School. This performance allowed the students to experience different instruments and music that they may not normally get to see and hear. | |
Almost 50 Jefferson, Kennedy, and Washington High School students are competing in Des Moines this weekend for the 113th Drake Relays. Click Here to see the full list of events and result updates. | |
Tuesday, Kennedy High School’s Jason Lester was honored by Iowa PBS as part of their Raise Up Teacher’s Initiative. Mr. Lester was nominated by a student’s parents for the work he does in his computer science classroom and with the school’s esports club. Click here to learn more. | |
Congratulations to Washington High School student Louis D. for placing 3rd at the Iowa Junior Academy of Science Competition! Louis presented his project on ‘The Effect of Pleurotus ostreatus on Increasing Biodiversity and Regenerating Topsoil’ and has now qualified for the American Junior Academy of Sciences meeting in Denver next year. | |
Several McKinley STEAM Academy students attended the Build My Future Construction Career Day & Industry Showcase in Iowa City. Students had the opportunity to try their hands at various construction industry practices. | |
Come Join the CRCSD Team! | |
Are you ready to help ensure every student is future-ready? Cedar Rapids Community School District is looking for dedicated people who want to join our team. We have a wide range of positions available and something for everyone - teacher, bus driver, food staff member, paraeducator, crossing guard, or administrator. We’d love for you to come be a part of this meaningful work. | |
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Non-Discrimination Policy
It is the policy of the Cedar Rapids Community School District not to discriminate in educational programs and/or activities on the basis of race, creed, color, gender, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, gender identity, socioeconomic status, national origin, religion, disability, age (except for permitting/prohibiting students to engage in certain activities) or genetic information and in employment opportunities on the basis of age, race, creed, color, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, disability or genetic information. There is a grievance procedure for processing complaints of discrimination. If you have questions or a grievance related to this policy, please contact Jessica Luna, Diretor Culture/Climate Transformation, Educational Leadership and Support Center, 2500 Edgewood Rd NW, Cedar Rapids, IA, (319) 558-2000.
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