Education

Northeast Iowa Community Action Corporation (NEICAC) has announced its Head Start Preschool open houses and registration nights to apply for the 2026-2027 school year. In the Waukon area, the open house and registration night will take place Wednesday, March 4 from 5-6 p.m. at the Waukon Head Start Conference Room located at 955 3rd Avenue NW in Waukon, the rear portion of the West Elementary School building.

Head Start Preschool is an all-day, five days a week, three- and four-year-old preschool program. Nutritious breakfast, lunch and snacks are served daily. There is no cost for tuition or meals for qualifying families. Qualified teachers use the Creative Curriculum to provide children with the academic and social skills they need to succeed in kindergarten.

Recent data from the Iowa Department of Education has named the Allamakee Community School District (ACSD) as the top-rated public school district in the state. This “Exceptional” designation highlights the district’s commitment to academic excellence and its strong partnership with Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) to prepare students for future careers.

The 2024-2025 Iowa School Performance Profiles revealed that ACSD earned 707.52 points out of a possible 900, placing it at the pinnacle of Iowa’s 325 public school districts. The district was one of only two in the state to receive the “Exceptional” designation. Overall, ACSD matched or exceeded state averages in nearly every category, including graduation rates, post-secondary readiness and proficiency in math, science and English language arts.

State of Iowa Auditor Rob Sand announced Thursday, January 22 the 2026 winners of the Public Innovations and Efficiencies (PIE) program, designed to help Iowa communities slash waste and save tax dollars by sharing creative, common-sense ideas to improve efficiency. Among those PIE award winners is the Allamakee Community School District which shared the honor of Best Performing Class 3A Community School District with South Tama and Okoboji Community School Districts.

Auditor Sand will personally deliver a pie to each award winner in the coming months. “I want to congratulate the winning communities and thank all the PIE participants for making Iowa taxpayers a priority,” said Sand. “PIE proves that innovation and partnership can make government better for every Iowan.”

by Brianne Grimstad

The Allamakee Community School District (ACSD) Board of Directors met Monday night, January 19 for its regular monthly board meeting.

Under the Consent Agenda, the following personnel were approved, pending a satisfactory background check: Justin Thrailkill and Carley Spain as volunteer golf coaches, Bob Wasson as a volunteer track coach, and a change to full-time hours from part-time for paraprofessionals Calista Morris and Mataya Sommer. The board also accepted the resignation of Janet Walleser from her third grade teaching position due to retirement. Approval was also given to a special education contract with College Community School District and a Microsoft renewal contract in the amount of $5,484.48.

by Nancy Dunkel
Iowa Student Loan Liquidity Corporation board member

Top Patriot’s Pen VFW Essay Contest entries from Waukon Middle School sixth grade ...
Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 4117 and its Auxiliary selected the top entries from Waukon Middle School’s sixth grade class for its VFW Youth Scholarship Essay Contest. Pictured at right, left to right, are Brooklyn Corwin, First Place; Regan Miner, Second Place; and Raven Sweeney, Third Place.

Top Patriot’s Pen VFW Essay Contest entries from Waukon Middle School seventh grade ...
Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 4117 and its Auxiliary selected the top entries from Waukon Middle School’s seventh grade class for its VFW Youth Scholarship Essay Contest. Pictured at right, left to right, are Nash Cunningham, First Place; Lail Curtin, Second Place; and Elsie Retallick, Third Place.

Alliant Energy is seeking applications for its 2026 Innovation Scholarships. Across Iowa and Wisconsin, up to 25 students will receive $1,000 scholarships to further their academic goals.

Applicants will write an essay that identifies a challenge in their community and presents their own innovative solution using science, technology, engineering and/or math. Scholarship recipients will be selected based on essay content, participation in leadership roles, volunteer work, community service, activities and grade-point average.

Applicants must be enrolled in their first full-time program at an undergraduate school. They also must be less than 25 years old and either a dependent of a current Alliant Energy customer or a customer themselves.

Students can submit applications to the Alliant Energy Innovation Scholarship Program online. The deadline is February 3, 2026.

by Susan Cantine-Maxson

The Eastern Allamakee Community School District (EACSD) Board of Directors met Wednesday, December 10 at Kee High School in Lansing, holding an organizational meeting followed by the district’s regular and annual meeting later the same evening.

Voting members of the board present included Heather Lutz, District 2; Joe Manning, At-Large; Melanie Mauss, At-Large; and Arla Wagner, District 3. Tommy Martin, District 1 board member was absent.

Others in attendance at the meeting included EACSD Superintendent Jay Mathis, Board Secretary/Financial Clerk Michele Martin, Grades PK-12 Principal Donna Thomas, Special Education Director/Associate Principal Liz Hill, and Technology Director Dave Ellefson.

Alliant Energy is seeking applications for its 2026 Innovation Scholarships. Across Iowa and Wisconsin, up to 25 students will receive $1,000 scholarships to further their academic goals.

Applicants will write an essay that identifies a challenge in their community and presents their own innovative solution using science, technology, engineering and/or math. Scholarship recipients will be selected based on essay content, participation in leadership roles, volunteer work, community service, activities and grade-point average.

Applicants must be enrolled in their first full-time program at an undergraduate school. They also must be less than 25 years old and either a dependent of a current Alliant Energy customer or a customer themselves.

Students can submit applications to the Alliant Energy Innovation Scholarship Program online. The deadline is February 3, 2026.

TrustPoint, LLP, Certified Public Accountants and Consultants, has released an audit report on Keystone Area Education Agency (AEA) 1 in Elkader. Financial highlights include the AEA’s revenues totaled $24,085,662 for the year ended June 30, 2025, a 9.19% decrease from the prior year. Expenses for the AEA operations for the year ended June 30, 2025 totaled $23,486,493, a 9.87% decrease from the prior year.

The decrease in revenues is due primarily to a reduction in operating grants and contributions and property tax revenue, while the decrease in expenses is attributed to a reduction in instructional staff support and administrative expenses. These reductions are attributable to House File 2612, which brought significant changes to the operations, funding and governance of the AEA system. A copy of the audit report is available for review on the Auditor of State’s website at https://auditor.iowa.gov/audit-reports.