Story continues below
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (Iowa Media Wire) — The Sioux City Community School District (SCCSD) operates 21 schools. In previous years, seven of those schools were placed on a state priority list. Thanks to dedicated efforts by staff and administrators, six have now been removed from that list.
“The schools have been working really hard, our students and staff, and the families who support them, and our administrators,” said Amy Denney, Director of Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment at SCCSD. “It really shows the power when everybody’s working together to improve student achievement.”
Each fall, the state of Iowa conducts its annual Iowa School Performance Profile Rating, providing an in-depth look at student growth and achievement across a range of academic measures.
“It identifies growth in English language progress for our English language learners. It identifies the growth in proficiency in our students, in reading, math, science, and the ISASP,” said Associate Superintendent for the Sioux City School District, Angela Bemus.
“Schools receive a number of points, so elementary and middle schools are scored out of 700 points. And then high schools are scored out of 900 points, and all of our schools did. Every single school in our district made growth,” said Denney.
Chronic absenteeism has been a significant challenge for the Sioux City Community School District in recent years. In 2023, the absentee rate reached 33%, but Superintendent Bemus reports that the number has since declined.
“We had 28% of our students chronically absent in 2024 and in 2025 only 16%,” Superintendent Bemus said.
Denney credits the recent drop in student absenteeism to proactive leadership and the unwavering commitment of district administrators and teachers to student well-being.
“Kudos to our teachers because they’re really digging in to know their students better,” Denney said. “They’re putting routines and structures in place to make sure that kids feel safe coming to school. That when they are in school, they are engaged in learning. That we’re interacting positively with students. That students hear their name every day. We want our schools to be a place where all of our students want to be.”
After schools are removed from the priority list, the Sioux City Community School District and the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress continue to monitor their progress closely. This ongoing oversight ensures that improvements are sustained and any emerging challenges are addressed promptly.
“Fall, winter, spring. We have our students take those screeners of reading and math,” said Denney. “We additionally have our district common assessments that were there aligned to our state standards, which the Iowa Assessment of Student Progress is also aligned with. So that’s another telltale sign. We are monitoring our chronic absenteeism regularly.”
Superintendent Bemus expressed confidence in the Sioux City schools’ ongoing commitment to doing whatever it takes to support and advance student learning.
“Really, we have high expectations for all of our buildings to not only maintain their good status, but to keep growing,” Superintendent Bemus said.
For those interested in learning more, Bemus and Denney will present additional details about the schools recently removed from the priority list, as well as future plans, at the upcoming Sioux City school board meeting on Monday night, October 27.