Superintendent's Message for December 2022

We have officially flipped the calendar for the final time in 2022.  December is here!  It is hard to believe we are almost to Christmas and the holiday season.  We have many exciting activities happening at Southwest Valley and the faculty and students are achieving great things.

Last month the Iowa Department of Education released its annual Iowa Performance Profile ratings for Iowa schools.  Enarson Elementary and Corning Elementary schools achieved Commendable ratings, while the Middle School and High School achieved Acceptable ratings. None of our schools require any target assistance.  This is another significant step for our district and allows us to reach the next level.  Our faculty and administrators have worked hard to adjust our curriculum so our children get an excellent education.

December concerts bring many opportunities for the public to come and enjoy our students performing on stage.  This a great time to experience how hard the directors and students have worked to create an enjoyable concert for you.  On December 5th, the Southwest Valley High School Winter concert will take place in the newly renovated high school auditorium at 7 p.m.  The following night the Enarson Elementary students will perform at the middle school at 6 p.m.  On December 12th, the Southwest Valley Middle School students will perform at the middle school gym at 7 p.m.  On December 13th, the Corning Elementary JK-1st concert will be at the high school auditorium at 6 p.m.  And finally, on December 20th, Corning Elementary 2nd-3rd grade students will perform at 6 p.m. and 4th-5th grade students at 7 p.m. at the high school auditorium.  Please make a note of these dates and come out and enjoy our winter concert series.

We also have many athletic activities that our students participate in during the winter season.  We added girls wrestling this year to our lineup and are a part of the SWAT Valkyries wrestling team.  This team is made up of girls from Atlantic, Nodaway Valley, Southwest Valley, CAM, and Griswold.  This year is the first year the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union has sanctioned this sport and there will be a state tournament in early February in Coralville, Iowa.  We share bowling with Lenox and have several student-athletes participating on this team.  We offer basketball, wrestling, cheerleading, and dance team.

Our students are also involved in FFA, FCCLA, FBLA, and Y-teens.  For a small school, our students have a wide variety of clubs and sports they can choose from.  We are proud of our students and hope you will come out and support them this winter.

We also want the Corning stakeholders to keep in tune with the information we are sharing on a bond referendum vote on March 7, 2023.  This project focuses on providing and updating our Corning Elementary building and making much needed improvements to the softball and baseball fields.  We are planning community meetings in January and February to allow the community to ask questions about the project and be informed on all the facts before you vote in March.  The elementary school was built in the sixties and needs to be updated to continue attracting new families, retaining the families we currently serve, and providing a safe and efficient learning environment for all students.  Make sure to check the district website, Facebook page, and the newspaper for information and meeting dates.

On behalf of the Southwest Valley Schools, I would like to wish all of you a blessed holiday season!