Cedar Rapids Community School District gets $15 million for new program

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - Through a multimillion dollar initiative, the Cedar Rapids Community School District wants to ensure graduates from Jefferson and Washington High Schools leave with two things: a diploma and a certification in an area of their choice.

This new program, the Future Ready College and Career Academies is made possible in part with $15 million awarded to the CRCSD from U.S. Department of Education.

Students will be given the opportunity to earn a workplace certification of their choosing. The money from the grant will go to facilitating the new programs by buying supplies to help students get hands-on experience to help hone in on a students’ skills and interests.

”We’re excited to go engage with families around those conversations,” Adam Zimmerman, Executive Director of Innovation and Principal City View Community High School.

The district also wants to make it a point to support students who aren’t sure what they want to do.

“If you want to make a change, we’re going to have on ramps and off ramps for students to enter new career fields and take different classes and get on a new track,” Zimmerman said. “Collaboration, teamwork, communication; those are the skills that they want their employees to come in with and this type of environment prepares them to do that.”

Some of the grant money will also help prepare teachers and other staff for the new workload.

”This is this is a big shift for our high schools, we’re working with teachers, staff, principals to get them ready and then the communication effort and informing families of what their choices are,” Zimmerman said.

The Future Ready College and Career Academies will start with a freshman course next year, with the upper academies, for Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors launching in 2026. There are plans to get similar programs to the district’s other high schools.