Student Achievements

Hempstead High School was recently named recipient of the Iowa Award for Excellence in Recycling (Best School Recycling Program) given by the Iowa Recycling Association. Representatives from Hempstead’s Green Team received the award on July 23 at the association’s annual luncheon. The group was nominated for the award by Bev Wagner, education coordinator for the Dubuque Metropolitan Area Solid Waste Agency, who was also named the state’s Recycler of the Year at the event.

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Dubuque Senior High School added a little silver to its school colors when U.S. News released its 2015 Best High Schools list.

Senior was awarded Silver Medal status in the listing, was ranked nationally and was ranked 11th among Iowa high schools in the listing.

“Our staff at Dubuque Senior High School is committed to helping all of our students be successful,” said Dan Johnson, principal at the school. “Our Ram Family, both staff and students, does a great job of working together to make our school a great place to get an education. Our goal is to always get better.”

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This spring, students worked with art teachers, local historians and architects to learn about the different architecture styles of Dubuque’s downtown hotels and inns, study their history and relevance to the city’s cultural and economic development, and create mixed media or 3-D artwork.

The work was part of a new program called “Be Our Guest,” held in conjunction with Main Street Ltd. during the organization’s annual Architecture Days celebration. The program was funded through the Mediacom Arts and Culture grant program submitted by the Foundation for Dubuque Public Schools (FDPS).

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Fourth and fifth grade students at Lincoln Elementary School will experience a collection of musical masterpieces on Wednesday, April 29, during the finals of the school’s Great Music Listening Festival.

The program, designed by Lincoln music teacher Linda Niemann, is focused on giving students the chance to learn about great music from the past. Students have been studying 10 masterworks for the past two months.

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The four-year graduation rate in the Dubuque Community School District climbed to 91.49 percent for the class of 2014, up 2.36 percent from the previous year and higher than the state average of 90.5 percent. This new data was released today by the Iowa Department of Education.

“We are committed to preparing students to be college- and career-ready, and graduating from high school is certainly an important part of the equation,” said Superintendent of Schools Stan Rheingans. “The increase in our graduation rates should be a point of pride for not only for our high school teachers, principals and staff, but also for staff throughout the district. We believe the cumulative experience our students receive in the district greatly contributes to their success in high school and beyond.”

The Dubuque Community School District had the third-highest graduation rate among the state’s 10 largest urban school districts.

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Second graders in Jen Gorrell’s class at Table Mound Elementary School got to see some of their classmates’ newly learned writing skills in action. As part of an exercise learning to write directions, students developed a step-by-step guide for  “how to catch a leprechaun.” They then showed off traps they constructed and talked about how they would, in fact, lure and catch a pesky little leprechaun.

Check out photos from the class.

You might say it has been another banner year for the Dubuque Senior High School speech team.

Three of the team’s ensembles (in Group Mime, Musical Theatre, and Radio Broadcasting) claimed the Critic’s Choice Banners, presented by a theater professional to the top performance of the day in each of the 12 categories at the Iowa High School Speech Association (IHSSA) Large Group All-State Festival. The festival was held on February 22 at Iowa State University and 69 students represented Senior at the state’s flagship group speech event.

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