Superintendent’s Message

On behalf of Waterloo Schools, I want to take this opportunity to thank all the businesses, organizations, churches and families who partner with us. Your partnership – in a variety of forms – provides our students, families, and sta with enhanced and enriched experiences as part of our Waterloo Schools family.

We are now in our 37th year of the Partners-In-Education program. Thank you for your support!

We continue to seek out new partnerships and grow existing ones. Waterloo Schools is on a mission to empower students to take ownership of their future. And, with us, their future is NOW.

We also know the future of the Cedar Valley and global economy depends on preparing our young people for careers that are either currently unfilled or have yet to be created. We are truly blessed to work with some of the best businesses and organizations in the Cedar Valley to assist in this endeavor.

Through our academically rigorous and engaging programs, we have created (and continue to create additional) innovative opportunities for students to do more of what they love and what they’re good at – now.

Smith

For instance, the Waterloo Career Center (WCC) continues to expand its o erings which include hands-on training in cyber security, culinary arts, digital media, plumbing, construction, early childhood education, health sciences and more. We’re making learning more relevant for students by connecting content to careers and using industry-standard equipment to train students on their path to discover where passion meets profession.

By joining us as Partners in Education, you’re supporting innovative learning experiences that inspire students to be ambitious, be brave, be dauntless, be adventurous, be assured, be bold. We embrace diversity and celebrate the di erences that enhance our learning environment and promote student growth and reflection. We take bold steps to make dreams for parents, our students, and the community come true. Involvement and support from our Partners is critical to career and technical education, bringing both time and talent to our entire district. The support we receive goes far beyond anything we could provide within our usual resources. We are truly grateful and appreciative of everything our Partners help us accomplish:

• We are proud to be the only district in the state of Iowa o ering the International Baccalaureate (IB) program districtwide. The IB Program is a premier, highly-challenging two-year program for juniors and seniors, which extends students’ perspectives, deepens their knowledge and allows them to broaden their understanding of national and international studies.

• We are the only district in the state to o er LifeLab which provides outstanding, hands-on, outside-the-classroom experiences that connect real life to curriculum for every child in every grade.

• We’re the fifth largest school district in the state and are proud that our student population represents the global majority. We translate our communications into five languages (Burmese, Marshallese, Bosnian, French, and Spanish) and prepare global-ready students in a global-powerful culture.

• Our 2022 East and West High valedictorians are attending Stanford and Harvard respectively — on FULL RIDE scholarships (thanks to their participation in the IB program we mentioned above).

• We are home to Expo Alternative Learning Center which is the first alternative Lighthouse in the world, the first Lighthouse high school in Iowa, and the third Lighthouse high school in the nation.

• Our alumni include a gold medal Olympian, a Pulitzer Prize winner, an international blues music champion, and an international basketball champion. (To name a few!)

We are the only school district I know of that’s this bold. And it’s because we, together – all of you and us – believe in bold ideas, bold goals, bold ambitions, bold steps to build a more vibrant and economically powerful Cedar Valley. Thank you for partnering with us!

Dr. Jared Smith, Superintendent