Greene County Schools: A Year in Review

Brett Abbotts

As the 2022-2023 school year winds down in the classroom for the Greene County Community School District, we have been given the opportunity to reflect on the number of incredible things our students and staff have accomplished during the year. We opened the new school year with a power packed staff gathering and celebration in the Greene County High School Auditorium and welcomed the new year with positivity, excitement, and change. A new year and new opportunities were upon us. Our students set some incredible records both in the classroom, on the stage, and on their respective fields of play throughout the course of the year. They received recognition in many forms from state championships, seals of

biliteracy, state musical recognitions, and countless applauses and standing ovations from many different entities across the state of Iowa. It is truly remarkable that our school district, students, and community is capable of so much and it is something to truly be proud of. As I have often remarked, “What a great time to be a Ram!”

We opened the fall season by having an incredibly successful year on the fields and courts, in the classroom, and at the board table. Our board took the step towards aligning our district to target four key priorities in the areas of Academic Excellence, Recruiting and Retaining Quality Staff Members, Community Relations, and Resource Management. These priorities have allowed our board and schools to focus their efforts and work on the things that matter the most and will have the greatest and most positive impact on students. One specific area that we focused on creating additional opportunities was in our PreSchool offerings. Next year, Greene County will offer full-day PreSchool to four-year-old students, four days a week. We have also partnered with The Children’s Center to ensure that we can provide the same quality of service and education to our three-year-old students as well.

Our Career Academy saw an increase in enrollment to just shy of 40 students, 10th-12th grade and an increase in the available strands for students. This year, we added the education strand and next year, we will have the business strand. Members of our school district provided a presentation on the Career Academy and the great partnerships that have been established with several local businesses that support Greene County students and schools at the inaugural Summit for Student Success and in front of state representatives, senators, and other legislators. These were highly successful events that highlighted the great things happening in the Career Academy and the great work our students and staff continually put in day after day. Our students saved themselves well over $75,000 in tuition costs and we have more than 20 students who completed a strand within the Career Academy during the 22-23 school year. Further, we partnered with Iowa State Extension and Outreach to offer Career Exploration Campus to our 1st-3rd and 4th-8th grade students to further opportunities available for so many more students.

In our schools, we will be realigning our Teacher and Leadership Compensation (TLC) support and will be moving to two instructional coaches at each building to assist and support teachers in improving their instructional practices, engage students faster, and increase our student achievement. Our current structure has one instructional coach per building with two district-wide coaches; while we will not be adding positions, we are increasing the support where it is needed the most. We have already noticed the impact of our work with TLC and our focus on having highly reliable schools in the form of increased scores on the statewide reading, writing, and math assessment as well as the newly implemented MAP Growth

Assessments. We are on the path to ensuring that all of our students are future-ready and have access to real-world learning opportunities and earning their diploma and so much more.

We are incredibly proud and thankful for the graduating class of 2023. They have been an integral part of the success here at Greene County and they are going to be moving on to some amazing things. From state champions, to record setters, to being the next group of teachers we welcome back through our doors, we could not be elated to have them grace our graduation stage and receive their diploma. They have helped lay the foundation for classes to come and have set the bar high as a positive example and expectation for future senior classes of Greene County. We are hopeful that they will be able to look back on their time and experiences in our schools as one that was both positive and supportive. Roll Rams!

Contact Us

Jefferson Bee & Herald
Address: 200 N. Wilson St.
Jefferson, IA 50129

Phone:(515) 386-4161