New Kirkwood center to serve more than just Monticello students

By Meredith Hines-Dochterman
The Gazette

MONTICELLO – High school students in Jones County and surrounding areas will have the chance to get a jump-start on their future.

Chris Riemenapp of Hazel Green, Wis., cuts a board in the lobby/atrium of the Kirkwood Community College Jones County Regional Education Center as construction continues on the new building in Monticello. The center is expected to open in August. Photo by Jim Slosiarek.

The Kirkwood Community College Jones Regional Education Center will open in August, providing all the programs available now, plus new college credit options for high school upperclassmen.

Doug Herman, Monticello’s city administrator, called Kirkwood’s expansion a big part of the city’s future.
“You think of a community college as serving people after high school, but this also will bring high school juniors and seniors to the mix,” Herman said.

Kirkwood has had several career academy programs available to high school students to help them make plans for life after school. Three years ago, leaders from Kirkwood and Jones County high schools discussed how the programs could be expanded.

“We knew districts were facing declining enrollments that would result in less funding,” said Kristy Black, director of Jones and Cedar counties for Kirkwood Community College.

That conversation was the first step of the Kirkwood Community College Jones Regional Education Center. The 32,000-square-foot facility will offer nearly a dozen career academy programs for high school students, in addition to the continuing education and college programs available now.

Career academy programs range from an architectural construction academy and graphics academy, to an arts and science academy for students who plan to pursue a four-year degree. The center also will offer advanced high school math and science classes.

Schools and students shared input on program areas, as did local business leaders.

Limestone is stacked, awaiting to be mortared in place, as construction continues on the Kirkwood Community College Jones County Regional Education Center in Monticello. Photo by Jim Slosiarek.

“Students will have the opportunity to attend college, at no cost,” Herman said.

Black said the facility’s location, on the south end of Monticello, made it possible to offer the program to high school students beyond Monticello and Jones County. In all, eight high schools will take advantage of the program — Monticello, Cascade, Maquoketa Valley, Springville, Central City, Anamosa, Oelwein and Midland.

The schools will send a combined total of 200 students to the Kirkwood Community College Jones Regional Education Center every day. Some schools also will send teachers to lead classes at the center.

“There is such a high level of collaboration between the schools and Kirkwood,” Black said. “That partnership led to the new building.”

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