Education News

Storm Lake High School presents Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein’s prize-winning musical classic South Pacific on stage at the Storm Lake High School Auditorium November 4-6 at 7 pm. Based on James Michener’s Pulitzer Prize winning book Tales of the South Pacific, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific has music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein Set on a tropical island during World War II, the musical tells the sweeping romantic story of two couples -- US Navy nurse Nellie Forbush & French plantation owner Emile de Becque and Navy Airman Joe Cable & a young local native girl Liat -- and how their happiness is threatened by the realities of the war and by their own prejudices.. ...

Storm Lake schools enrollment has decreased by 35 students from last year, though the district expects its overall trend of growth to continue. Iowa school districts submit their enrollment numbers to the state Department of Education on October 1. The number is used to calculate the amount of school funding aid received from the state. Because open enrollment into the district increased by 14 this school year, the district funding will only decline 20 students’ worth...

Six band students have been selected to participate in the 54th annual Northwest Iowa Junior High/Middle School Honor Bands Festival. On Saturday, October 16, over 300 seventh and eighth grade band students from 35 Northwest Iowa schools auditioned for a position in two honor bands. Approximately 190 students were chosen. These selected students will perform a concert at Storm Lake High School, Saturday, November 6. Selected from Storm Lake Middle School are:...

The Storm Lake High School band marched to first place in 4A competition during the Carroll Band Day festival. / SL Music Boosters photo

State Treasurer Michael L. Fitzgerald recently awarded a $529 College Savings Iowa contribution to the Brostad family of Storm Lake as part of the 2021 College Savings Iowa Child Care Giveaway. Two-year-old Emma, who attends Ready, Set, Grow, was randomly drawn as the Northwest region winner...

The statistics are alarming. Since 2018, suicide has been the second leading cause of death for adolescents between the ages 10-14 and 15-24. More than one in five students in the schools served by Prairie Lakes Area Education Agency (AEA) who completed the Iowa Youth Survey in 2018 reported that they had seriously considered killing themselves in the 12 months prior...

Sixteen art educators joined a pair of Buena Vista University students in learning and practicing concepts surrounding social and emotional learning as part of a day-long seminar on campus hosted by Mary Mello-Nee, BVU Professor of Art. The session was spearheaded by Erin Price, a Storm Lake native and a Ph.D. student who teaches in the University of Missouri Honors College and School of Education...

The Storm Lake Board of Education has approved agreements with Lutheran Services in Iowa and Plains Area Mental Health for the school year. Local families were disproportionately hurt by the pandemic, with staff seeing mental health concerns among students, according to Superintendent Stacey Cole said. ...

For the third consecutive year, Buena Vista University experienced enrollment growth fueled in part by new programming and record-setting graduate school participation. BVU’s Fall 2021 enrollment totals 1,959 students—up from 1,863 one year ago—an increase of five percent over the past year and eight percent since 2018. Enrollment on the Storm Lake campus grew from 733 in 2020 to 777 this fall, a six-percent climb...

This fall, the University of Iowa welcomed the most academically accomplished class in its history for the fifth year in a row. The incoming undergraduate class again topped previous records in achievement with a higher average high school grade-point average (GPA), at 3.81, than any previous class...

Fifteen education majors came to Buena Vista University in Storm Lake in August of 2020 to begin their educational journey, intent on becoming teachers. This year, 33 education majors have reported to campus to start their trek, an increase of 120 percent, representing the continuation of an upward trajectory for a university that enjoys a long history of turning out classroom leaders across Iowa and the rest of the country...

After a delay of nearly two years, the Storm Lake High School Courtyard project is back on track. Demolition of the current courtyard surface is expected to begin by the end of the month. The project was created by the advanced ecology class in 2019, with the City of Storm Lake acting as fiscal sponsor for the students to apply for an Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship grant...

Teams of 4-H youth from four Iowa counties showcased their hard work and entrepreneurial spirit during the third annual AgOvation program finals on Aug. 21. AgOvation is a research-based competition that challenges youth to explore and develop innovative science-based solutions to agricultural problems that they identify in their own communities. ...

Storm Lake St. Mary School is experiencing a significant gain in enrollment for the 2021-22 academic year, most notably at the high school level. The preK-12 Catholic school realized a 3.6% gain system-wide and a 33.3% gain in grades 9-12. St. Mary High School has 64 students enrolled for the current year, and 285 students are enrolled in preK-12...

The Iowa State University College of Human Sciences dean’s list honors students who have earned a grade point average of 3.5 or higher during the spring semester of 2021. The following local students have been named to the spring 2021 dean’s list in the College of Human Sciences at Iowa State University:...

“Stick it,” the Storm Lake School District encourages. On the refrigerator, that is. The district and high school Principal Matt Doebel and his team created magnets that list all of the requirements for students to progress toward graduation - and to remain eligible to participate in extra-curricular sports and performances...

Storm Lake Community Schools’ summer school program saw high attendance levels - much more than in a normal year, the school district reports. “In grades kindergarten-seven, students largely attended at the level we consider to be ‘quality attendance,” while relatively small numbers attended sparingly and to the point at which programming did not provide a good return on investment,” the program report reads...

The Biden administration announced Friday afternoon that it is extending the pause on federal student loan repayments until January of next year, as the delta variant of the coronavirus surges across the country. “As our nation’s economy continues to recover from a deep hole, this final extension will give students and borrowers the time they need to plan for restart and ensure a smooth pathway back to repayment,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement...

The Biden administration announced Friday afternoon that it is extending the pause on federal student loan repayments until January of next year, as the delta variant of the coronavirus surges across the country. “As our nation’s economy continues to recover from a deep hole, this final extension will give students and borrowers the time they need to plan for restart and ensure a smooth pathway back to repayment,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement...

The Field of Dreams game was picturesque for many as the sun set on the historic game. The first Major League Baseball game to take place in Iowa was held in Dyersville this past Thursday and Marlene Morrow got tickets to take herself and eight-year-old Kolten Iehl...

Major League Baseball set up a once in a lifetime event for the Field of Dreams game last night in Dyersville and Marlene Morrow decided to make it the best day ever for eight-year-old Kolton Iehl. Marlene worked at the Buena Vista Regional Medical Center for 47 years before retiring this past December. While working there she met Anne Iehl, who is Kolton’s mother. Kolton and Marlene became fast friends with Marlene describing him as kind of a grandson to her...

Storm Lake High School students are helping deliver food to community members in need who are homebound and do not have access to transportation. Students have been assisting the Friends with Food Delivery program, which serves individuals throughout the Storm Lake community...