Powerful Partnerships in Council Bluffs, IA
The community works to prepare students for future careers.
A skilled and readily available workforce is at the heart of Council Bluffs, IA’s, economic development strategy. Partnerships between public school districts, Iowa Western Community College (IWCC) and other community organizations ensure students are prepared for jobs in growing industries once they graduate.
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A Head Start to College and Careers
Council Bluffs Community School District’s commitment to career readiness is reflected in its robust menu of programs and partnerships, including dual enrollment and Career Academies. Through a partnership with IWCC, students can simultaneously earn high school and college credit in courses like college algebra, statistics, literature and public speaking.
“We have a huge dual-enrollment program through which we offer credit classes in high schools. We have more than 2,000 high school students who come to Iowa Western’s campuses or centers each year to take credit classes, and there is no cost to the student or their families, so that is a huge benefit for them,” says Matt Mancuso, executive director of business and community education for IWCC. “If they are looking to attend a four-year program, this gives them a good head start on their general education requirements. We actually have quite a few students who earn an associate degree before they even graduate high school.”
The district also partners with IWCC for its Career Academies, which allow students to earn college credit and certifications in areas such as welding, automotive technology, construction, culinary arts, advanced manufacturing, health sciences and agribusiness. Through hands-on training, students gain employable skills, such as critical thinking, communication, collaboration and problem-solving – all essential for success in an evolving job market.
“We have an intermediary network, which helps connect high schools to companies so high school students can start to develop an idea for a career and start their career paths hopefully sooner than later,” Mancuso says. “We actually start in eighth grade, starting to give them career exploration ideas and working with them to identify a possible pathway. We show them what a mechanic would do, what a welder would do, what an engineer would do to give them exposure to the various components of that career.”
Future-Focused
The community continues to invest in preparing a future workforce. For example, the Iowa West Foundation, an organization that works to strengthen the region’s communities, awarded more than $1.1 million in grants through its ASPIRE initiative to groups dedicated to education and workforce development.
“Each Pottawattamie County high school receives funding that is tailored to their workforce development programs,” says Nicole Lindquist, director of communications for the Iowa West Foundation.
“For example, Council Bluffs Community Schools will expand their Plus One Pathways, which allows students to take classes at the local community college and receive work credentials or even an associate degree along with their high school diploma. Rural schools are working with IJAG (Iowa Jobs for American Graduates), Avenue Scholars of Southwest Iowa, and Iowa Western Community College to prepare their students for the workforce.”
For its part, the Council Bluffs Community School District helps prepare students for an ever-evolving marketplace through its Plus One Pathways, which give students opportunities to earn college credit and skills certifications in addition to a high school diploma.
One of its pathways, the Early College Academy, allows up to 25 juniors and 25 seniors to take free courses at IWCC that count toward both a high school diploma and an associate degree.
TradeWorks Academy, another pathway, provides sophomores and juniors with hands-on training that prepares them for future apprenticeships.
Better Together
Organizations within the community are also highly involved in preparing students of all ages for their futures. In addition to the ASPIRE initiative, the Iowa West Foundation also gave $350,000 to the Council Bluffs Schools Foundation for adult education.
Additionally, Avenue Scholars Southwest Iowa assists students with career exploration, selecting a career, and the education and training necessary for success in that career. The program is part of a nationwide effort to help young people secure local jobs that will both aid their upward mobility and grow the workforce and economy.
Cara Cool-Trede, executive director of Avenue Scholars Southwest Iowa, says Avenue Scholars follows students from high school into the workplace with wraparound services, like mentoring, training, work-based learning and financial assistance.
“We connect businesses with schools and students to make sure that students have the ability to go to these businesses and take a tour or job shadow,” she says.
“Ultimately, we place them in paid internships with our business partners, and that really gives them that work-based learning experience that exposes them to the hard skills. They also learn those soft skills – what it takes to be a good employee and successful in their future career.”
New Early Learning Center
In addition to job preparation, Council Bluffs Community School District recently opened the Anne E. Nelson Early Learning Center to provide early education opportunities to area infants, toddlers and preschoolers.
The center, which is located on North Eighth Street, opened in August 2023 in time for the 2023-24 school year. The center’s namesake, Anne E. Nelson, died in December 2022 at the age of 81 and was a longtime educator, community volunteer and philanthropist. She made her home in Council Bluffs in 1965 after marrying her husband, John Nelson.
Anne’s professional academic career included a long stint as a teacher at Lewis Central High School in Council Bluffs, plus she taught English at Iowa Western Community College to adults who were preparing to take the GED. Prior to arriving in Council Bluffs, Nelson graduated from Carleton College in Minnesota and taught high school English and French at Minnetonka High School.
The Anne E. Nelson Early Learning Center can accommodate an enrollment of up to 200 children every school year, and the curriculum is aligned with Iowa Early Learning Standards. According to a press release from Council Bluffs Community School District, the center’s program focuses on the “social, emotional, cognitive, language, physical and academic skills of the whole child.”
Enrollment fees range from $450-$750 per month. For more information, click here.
Kevin Litwin contributed to this article.
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