Jefferson High to begin construction in March for College & Career Pathways
By Grace King – The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa (TNS)
Dec. 28—The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
CEDAR RAPIDS — More than a dozen teachers at Jefferson High School will be moving classrooms this spring so renovations can begin for the future College & Career Pathways program.
About 15 teachers who will be impacted voted earlier this month for construction to move forward beginning the start of spring break, March 17. Almost 61 percent of the staff voted to start construction and 39 percent vote against beginning construction during the school year.
Staff will be relocated to existing spaces in the building. Some teachers like Katie Buch, who teaches special education, will share a classroom with another teacher. The teachers have about 12 to 15 students each.
Ellen Wiedenman, also a special education teacher at Jefferson, said teachers will get help packing up and moving classrooms. Teachers have been told “loud” construction that could be disruptive to learning won’t happen during the school day, she said.
Wiedenman said teachers are learning more about the Pathways program every day.
“I think there’s really good things coming out of it,” she said. She and other special education teachers have been speaking with school leaders about what Pathways looks like for students in the special education program.
Individualized education plans — legally binding documents that outlines educational needs of children with a disability and the services and support they receive — already include plans surrounding a students’ transition into adulthood, Buch said. That could include students attending Kirkwood Community College for a year with supports and vocational training.
‘We’re hopeful it will give our students more opportunities. There’s a lot of things left to be figured out, but that’s kind of our job. We deal with change on a daily basis. Hopefully, it will be good for our students and for us,” Buch said.
Invision Architects was selected earlier this year to renovate and build additions to Jefferson and Washington high schools for the Pathways program. A presentation by Invision Architects earlier this month at a school board meeting included renderings of Jefferson High’s Freshman Academy and the School of Aviation and Engineering.
Other schools at Jefferson will be:
— The School of Law & Human Services, which includes academies of pre-law, public safety and education.
— The School of Aviation & Engineering, which includes academies in aerospace and aviation; automotive technology and engineering; and construction and manufacturing.
— The School of Environmental Science & Sustainability, which includes academies in agriculture science, environmental science and business.
Construction at Washington High is planned to begin this summer.
The projects will cost $60 million — about $30 million at each school. Funding is coming from two places:
— The district is leveraging $30 million from its Physical Plant and Equipment Levy, an existing capital projects fund for the purchase and improvement of grounds, construction and remodeling of buildings, major equipment purchases including technology.
— An additional $30 million from Secure An Advanced Vision for Education, an existing statewide sales tax, also is being set aside to fund infrastructure for college and career learning.
The Cedar Rapids Community School District was awarded a nearly $15 million federal grant in October that will support its College & Career Pathways program.
The district will receive about $6.5 million of this funding immediately to launch its academies at Jefferson and Washington high schools next fall. With this funding, the Cedar Rapids district will invest in state-of-the-art technology, innovative equipment, and hands-on learning experiences that will connect students with industry-leading careers, according to a news release.
Pathways plan receiving mixed feedback
The Pathways program is receiving mixed feedback from the public. A petition submitted to the school board earlier this month asked the district to “slow down” implementation of the plan.
Many parents say they have outstanding questions about how the program will function and concerns about how it is being received by district staff.
The petition was deemed invalid because of insufficient eligible signatures. Iowa Code requires a school board to place requests on its agenda within 30 days of receiving a petition signed by 500 or more eligible voters.
Buch said many teachers felt similarly uncertain when they first learned about the Pathways program. “We were like ‘What’s going on? What is happening? Just like our community,” she said. “There are so many unknowns. I think our administrators and district have heard us and are trying to involve us more,” she said.
“The more we learn, the more excited I get. Could it have started off better? Of course. But I think that we’ve been heard. I think it’s going to be a good thing for us. Our students are able to explore more possibilities after high school,” Buch said.
“This is an opportunity for students to see things they never thought possible,” Wiedenman said. “Does that mean they’re going to stick with a pathway and that’s their life choice? Maybe, maybe not.”
What are College & Career Pathways?
College & Career Pathways will launch next fall at Kennedy, Jefferson and Washington high schools with Freshman Academies designed to connect students to smaller learning environments where they can explore their career interests.
Ninth-graders will take core classes in the subjects of math, science, language arts and social studies in addition to a new “freshman seminar” aimed at preparing students for high school and life.
The following school year — 2026-27 — College & Career Pathways will be offered at four high schools, including Metro, which is not typically attended by freshmen. Staff are beginning to work on designing courses for these programs, Cedar Rapids schools’ Superintendent Tawana Grover said.
Families are invited to join a parent advisory committee to give voice in shaping the future of the College & Career Pathways program. The committee will hold its first meeting in January. Interested community members can visit crschools.us/frontpage/college-and-career-pathways to express interest in joining.
Comments: (319) 398-8411; grace.king@thegazette.com
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