World Read Aloud Day – Feb. 2
World Read Aloud Day is Wednesday, February 2, 2022! For 13 years, World Read Aloud Day has called attention to the importance of sharing stories by challenging participants to grab a book, find an audience, and read-aloud! The global effort, created by the non-profit LitWorld and sponsored by Scholastic, is celebrated annually in over 173 countries and is all about bringing people together through the shared connection of reading aloud in all of our communities.
Several opportunities are happening all week long in our schools! View the Scholastic World Read Aloud Kit here, or go to https://www.litworld.org/worldreadaloudday for more!
Congratulations to Kristen Recher, Iowa STEM Teacher Award
Attendance Reminder
Congratulations to Know your Constitution Finalists
Elizabeth Deng and Madison Carleton of Ankeny Centennial and Kalyani Bhat of Northview Middle School are finalists in The Iowa State Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division “Know Your Constitution” Project. 76 finalists were selected from the more than 500 students across the State of Iowa who participated in the “Know Your Constitution” Project. These finalists will be honored at a Virtual Awards Program over Zoom on February 15, 2022.
From the finalists, five students and their teachers will be chosen by a random drawing to receive scholarship grants and honoraria in recognition of their efforts.
The “Know Your Constitution” Project is designed to enrich students’ understanding and appreciation of the Constitution. The students participating in the project were required to familiarize themselves with Constitution related issues. A quiz was completed by each participating student. An essay question accompanied the quiz. This year’s essay topic involved Constitutional questions concerning qualifications for Social Security payments and the restriction that recipients must not leave the United States for more than 30 days. The question is modelled after a current case before the United State Supreme Court. “Best Essay” finalists will be posted to the ISBA website, with an overall winner announced during the Zoom program.
The Know Your Constitution program is sponsored by The Iowa State Bar Association, with additional funding from the Iowa State Bar Foundation and IOLTA.
Iowa School Performance Profiles
The state has released their annual online reporting tool called the Iowa School Performance Profiles, as required by a federal education law called the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). These profiles reflect how public schools performed on a set of accountability measures, such as results on the statewide assessment, graduation rates, and academic growth.
The tool displays a school’s score based on overall performance, as well as scores based on the performance of subgroups of students. Based on these scores, schools can be identified for additional funding, support, and improvement.
In order to put the information into perspective, below you will find links to the following charts.
- Comparisons between each of Ankeny’s schools to the state average
- Comparison of Ankeny’s high schools to other area high schools
Ankeny High School Data (Commendable)
Ankeny Centennial High School Data (Commendable)
Southview Middle School Data (High Performing)
Northview Middle School Data (High Performing)
Parkview Middle School Data (Commendable)
Prairie Ridge Middle School Data (Commendable)
Ashland Ridge Elementary School Data (Exceptional)
Crocker Elementary School Data (High Performing)
East Elementary School Data (Acceptable)
Heritage Elementary School Data (Commendable)
Northeast Elementary School Data (High Performing)
Northwest Elementary School Data (Commendable)
Prairie Trail Elementary School Data (Exceptional)
Rock Creek Elementary School Data (High Performing)
Southeast Elementary School Data (Commendable)
Westwood Elementary School Data (High Performing)
| High School | Ranking | Score |
| Ankeny HS | Commendable | 59.7 |
| Ankeny Centennial HS | Commendable | 59.4 |
| Waukee HS | Commendable | 58.7 |
| Bondurant-Farrar HS | Commendable | 57.1 |
| Johnston Senior HS | Commendable | 56.3 |
| Dallas Center-Grimes HS | Commendable | 56.09 |
| Valley HS | Commendable | 55.3 |
| Urbandale HS | Commendable | 54.7 |
| Roosevelt HS | Needs Improvement | 45.3 |
| Hoover HS | Priority | 43.8 |
| Lincoln HS | Priority | 42.3 |
| North HS | Priority | 41.0 |
| East HS | Priority | 40.4 |
To locate our school’s results, as well as more information about the Iowa School Performance Profiles and ESSA, visit the following website: www.iaschoolperformance.gov
68 Students Selected for the 35th Annual OPUS Honor Choir Festival
This fall, sixty-eight Ankeny Community School District students, grades sixth through ninth, were selected for the 35th Annual Opus Honor Choir Festival hosted by the Iowa Choral Directors Association. Over twenty-one hundred students were nominated by their directors for one hundred-eighty positions in each of the four OPUS Honor Choirs. Judges made their selections by scoring a recorded audition from each nominated student. The 2021 Opus Honor Choirs performed on Thursday, November 18th, in CY Stephens Auditorium in Ames. Congratulations to these outstanding young musicians and their directors: Nick Oswald and Jill Bjorklund, Southview; Ben Joseph, Northview; David Sponder and Emma Feldhans, Parkview; Riley Anderson and Lisa Rehms, Prairie Ridge.
Key:
*Solo Finalists
PR = Prairie Ridge
PV = Parkview
SV = Southview
NV = Northview
| 5th/6th Choir | 7th/8th Treble Clef Choir |
| Elin Alber (PV) | Mya Backstrom (SV) |
| Delaney DeAngelo (PR) | Ella Breuer (SV) |
| Shannon Frommelt (PR) | Caitlyn Chance (SV) |
| Sloane Gauerke (PR) | Charlee Cibula (SV) |
| Peyton Griffith (PR) | Shelby Davidson (SV) |
| *Taylor Harrison (PR) | Ella Dietrich (PV) |
| Sarah Heldt (PR) | Aubrie Kolner (NV) |
| Sloane Huisman (PR) | Whitney Lee (PR) |
| Zena Jorgensen (PR) | Reese Mitchell (NV) |
| William Peverill (PV) | Lilian Monthei (SV) |
| Derek Pross (PV) | Allison Muehr (SV) |
| Kahlan Simmonds (PV) | Sara Phillips (PV) |
| Abigail Tanner (PV) | Landry Wagner (PV) |
| Autumn Underwood (PR) | |
| Aaliyah Van Horn (PV) |
| 7th/8th Bass Clef Choir | 9th Mixed Choir |
| Austin Albaugh (PV) | Nick Ambrosecchia (SV) |
| Cael Austin (PV) | Ingrid Dietrich (SV) |
| Greyson Beenen (SV) | Tim Fairchild (SV) |
| Lincoln Blessing (PV | Eli Feldhans (SV) |
| Hudson Evans (SV) | Leah Hatch (SV) |
| Garrett Hemmingsen (SV) | Alex Hoxeng (SV) |
| Jayden Huegel (SV) | *Evelyn Huegel (SV) |
| Harrison Jansen (NV) | Cade Johnson (SV) |
| Zena Jorgensen (PR) | Mia Koka (SV) |
| Oliver Klein (SV) | James Lopez (SV) |
| Erik Kleve (SV) | Landon Pote (SV) |
| Zach Kragel (SV) | Zach Riley (SV) |
| Jefferson Menke (PV) | Nicholas Robie (SV) |
| *Logan Peterson (PV) | Tyler Sickerson (SV) |
| Anders Repp (SV) | Ethan Skow (SV) |
| Jack Reysack (SV) | Carlos Vergara (SV) |
| Gus Ringholz (PR) | |
| Jackson Robie (PV) | |
| *Ezekiel Scroggs (PR) | |
| Caleb Sensor (SV) | |
| Brannen Shanahan (SV) | |
| William Simmonds (SV) | |
| Jayden Song (SV) | |
| Jaxon Speer (PV) | |
| Billy Youngquist (SV) |
CONGRATULATIONS to the hundreds of Ankeny students who submitted recordings and especially to each of these fine young musicians who were selected! Prairie Ridge students Taylor Harrison and Ezekiel Scroggs, Parkview student Logan Peterson and Southview student Evelyn Huegel had the distinguished honor of being chosen as solo finalists for the festival, and Logan Peterson was chosen as a soloist! Congratulations to all!
Holly Anderson Named 2022 Middle School Iowa Athletic Director of the Year
Holly Anderson, Activities Director at Northview Middle School, has been chosen as the 2022 Middle School Athletic Director of the Year by the Iowa High School Athletic Directors Association. Holly was chosen for her outstanding dedication and leadership of young student-athletes.
“We are excited that Holly is receiving this much deserved recognition,” said Dr. Erick Pruitt, Superintendent of Ankeny Schools. “She is great leader, to both her students and also to her fellow staff members.”
Holly has been with the Ankeny Community School District for 16 years. Her previous roles for the district include P.E. teacher and girl’s basketball coach before beginning her current role in administration in 2013.
Honorees chosen as Athletic Director of the Year must have a minimum of five years’ experience and show qualities of achievement, excellence and character. Holly will be recognized at the annual IHSADA State Convention in March.
Updates to the Mask Requirement
The Ankeny Board of Education voted to discontinue the September amendment to the Return to Learn Plan, which was originally scheduled to sunset on December 21, 2021. This effectively ends the mask requirement in Ankeny Schools beginning, Wednesday, December 8. Masks will still be required on buses in accordance with the Order issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The CDC continues to recommend that all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to schools wear a mask, regardless of vaccination status, and we recommend those who are able continue to follow this guidance to support the health and safety of both our students and staff.
The Iowa Department of Public Health provided guidance to school districts in May 2021 that requires parental notification when students are exposed to COVID-19. With this change to the Return to Learn Plan, you may begin receiving an increase in these notifications. Please note that due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), neither the district, school building secretary, nor your school nurse will be able to provide exact exposure information.
Furthermore, it remains vitally important that any students who are feeling ill stay home. Federal and state public health agencies have information available to help you understand COVID-19 symptoms and appropriate next steps if you and/or your children are experiencing them.
We continue to await a decision from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals regarding Iowa’s law prohibiting mask requirements in schools. If the court’s decision has any impact on our current mitigation procedures, we will notify our school community at that time.
Thank you,
Dr. Erick Pruitt
Superintendent of Schools
CHS Color Guard State Champs!
Congratulations to the Ankeny Centennial Winterguard! On Friday, December 4th they competed in the ISDTA State Championships at Wells Fargo Arena where they were named the State Champion in Color Guard Class III. This is their third state championship in the last 8 years.
“I am so proud of this group’s hard work and dedication. It has been a lot of fun seeing them progress through the season and really own their performance. They performed their hearts out on Friday and it was incredible to see!”
– Janelle Hook, director
The Centennial Winterguard’s production is entitled “Alice”, featuring music by Danny Elfman from the movie “Alice in Wonderland”.
The Centennial Winterguard consists of 24 students in grades 9-12 and is directed by Janelle Hook and Olivia Klaas.
Parent Advisory Committee Meeting – Thursday, Dec. 9
The Ankeny Community School District and Superintendent Dr. Erick Pruitt invite parents/guardians to attend the Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) meeting on Thursday, December 9 from 6-7:30 p.m. at Northview Middle School in the Cafeteria. Please park on the west side of the building near the football stadium and enter through doors W22.
We will be sharing information about our new learning management system, Canvas, the resources available to teachers as outcomes of curriculum reviews, and reporting student progress with standards.
The Parent Advisory Committee gives parents an opportunity to provide input on topics and ideas that are relevant to the district’s goal of preparing every learner for success. The committee will also provide insight into projects and initiatives that can be implemented to help move the district forward. Parents and guardians will have the opportunity to collaborate with each other and work together as one entity to ensure success for our students and community.
Committee involvement is open to all parents of students enrolled in the Ankeny Community School District.