Community

NORTH LIBERTY– Playground design has come a long way. Forty years ago, kids played on jungle gyms and monkey bars installed on asphalt pads or surrounded by various sizes of gravel. Later, bits and pieces of shredded tires were layered around the appliances, cushioning young bodies from the inevitable falls. More recently, other materials such as wood chips were placed to provide a softer surface.

NORTH LIBERTY– If all goes to plan, traffic jams, cluttered halls and a cramped gymnasium will be a thing of the past for North Central Junior High late next year. The school is preparing for expansions to both the interior and exterior, to match its growing population, with construction likely to begin during the upcoming school year.

Exterior

OXFORD– Sometimes the obvious answer is right in front of you. For the Clear Creek Amana (CCA) Community School District, as Communications Director Laurie Haman said in a recent press release, the district, “did not have to look far to add a new elementary principal.” Brian Williams, the current Director of Curriculum and Instruction, has been approved by the board to become the principal of the new elementary school, which is currently under construction just north of Tiffin Elementary.

NORTH LIBERTY– Before school starts again this fall, the City of North Liberty and a group of community partners are working to make sure every kid in the community has what they need to have a good start to the school year. The inaugural Back 2 School Bash will be held on Friday, Aug. 17, from 2 to 5 p.m. in North Liberty’s Penn Meadows Park in North Liberty. This kick-off to the school year provides free school supplies, socks, underwear, toiletries, shoes, haircuts and more to kids accompanied by an adult.

SWISHER– The Swisher American Legion Auxiliary chose two Prairie girls to attend Girls State this month at Drake University.