Clarion-Goldfield-Dows School District

The Clarion-Goldfield-Dows Community School District is a public P/K-12 school district located in Clarion, Iowa. The school district covers over 355 square miles (920 km²), mostly in Wright County, Iowa, with portions of the district extending into Humboldt, Hancock, and Franklin counties. The district serves the communities of Clarion, Goldfield, Dows, and Galt as well as the unincorporated communities of Lake Cornelia and Holmes. Schools within the district include an elementary school (P/K-5), a middle school (6-8), and a high school (9-12) all located in Clarion.

Enrollment

In September 2015, the Clarion-Goldfield-Dows CSD had a K-12 certified enrollment of 967 students.

Athletics

Clarion Goldfield Dows is usually a Class 2A school in the North Central Conference (Iowa) that includes Algona, Clarion-Goldfield-Dows, Clear Lake, Hampton-Dumont, Humboldt, Iowa Falls-Alden, St. Edmond Catholic (Fort Dodge), and Webster City. The Clarion-Goldfield-Dows mascot is the Cowboys/Cowgirls and the school colors are red and black. The school song is sung to the tune of Illinois Loyalty. Fall sports are football, volleyball, and cross country. Winter sports are boys' basketball, girls' basketball, and wrestling. Spring sports are boys' and girls' track and field, and boys' and girls' golf. Summer sports are baseball and softball. Clarion-Goldfield-Dows began partnering with neighboring CAL Community School District of Latimer to share football and cross country in the Fall of 2015, with both programs at Clarion. CAL has approved continuing to share football for 2016 and 2017.

History/Facilities

The Clarion-Goldfield-Dows Elementary and Middle School complex began with a 3-story high school building built in 1913, located on what is now the circle drive. In 1937, the two-story elementary school was built as it stands today. In the late 1950s, two additions were added to the elementary school, on the east and northwest sides, and a middle school was built as a north addition to the high school. The high school was moved to a new building in northeast Clarion in 1971. The old building became a P/K-8 facility.

In 1993, the 1913 portion of the building was demolished, the middle school was capped, and a new front entrance was built. An addition was built to the north of the elementary school including a multipurpose room (gymnasium/cafeteria), library media center, ICN room, two computer labs, and additional classrooms. The 1937 elementary building and east addition was extensively renovated at this time. In 2002, a north addition was built to the middle school, adding four additional classrooms. In 2007, an extensive renovation project was completed to the middle school and northwest elementary addition that also included a small addition to the southwest, near the front entrance. In 2003, a new playground was completed.

Clarion-Goldfield-Dows High School was built in 1969. A new weight room was built in 2003 by the Sports Boosters. In 2004, an addition and renovation project was completed, building an addition to the north and a new art room, pottery room, business room, 2 computer labs, wrestling room, 4 locker rooms, and geothermal heating and cooling to the north-northwest half of the facility. In 2007, a south addition was added and extensive renovations created new and renovated facilities for a library media center, ICN room, computer lab, chemistry/physics lab, renovated biology lab, 7 new classrooms, expanded and renovated offices, new main entrance, and a hallway/entrance to the east. The project included extensive renovations and new geothermal heating and cooling to the southeastern portion of the building. A wind turbine was built on the northeast corner of the property in 2007. Plans for the future include a 650-seat auditorium addition and an auxiliary gym. In 2014, the parking lot was redone.

Dows Community School District

The Dows Community School District, established in 1914, served the community of Dows, Iowa for 100 years. It served as a full K-12 school system until the last class graduated in 1998. In 1953, Dows recorded its largest enrollment of 532 students in K-12, 50 in kindergarten alone. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, enrollment declined. In the fall of 1998, a 2-way whole grade sharing agreement began with CAL Community School District of Latimer, Iowa. The shared high school was at CAL, the shared middle school (6-8) was at Dows, and both districts maintained their own separate elementary schools. This agreement continued for seven years. Beginning in 2005-06, Dows ended the agreement with CAL and began a 1-way whole grade sharing agreement with Clarion-Goldfield. Dows maintained a P/K-5 elementary school and shared numerous administration, faculty, and staff positions. In September 2013, voters of both districts approved consolidation into a single district. The Dows School was closed in the spring of 2014, in its centennial year of operation. An all-school reunion was held at Dows Corn Days in August 2014. The district became part of the Clarion-Goldfield-Dows Community School District with all students attending classes and activities in Clarion in the fall of 2014. The Dows School building was sold in June 2014 to warehouse seed for Pioneer.

Goldfield Community School District

In 1981, Clarion and Goldfield began a whole grade sharing agreement that included sharing the high school, this was expanded to include the middle school in 1986. The two districts passed a consolidation to merge the two districts into the Clarion-Goldfield Community School District in 1993. The Goldfield building continued to house elementary classes until closing in 2008. The Goldfield building continues to be used for athletic events and practices, and is available to rent for events.

Boone Valley Community School District Dissolution

The Boone Valley Community School District of Renwick, Iowa opted to dissolve the district, instead of consolidating with a single district. The land in the district was mostly split between Humboldt and Clarion-Goldfield in 1993.

Corwith-Wesley Community School District Dissolution

The Corwith-Wesley District will dissolve in 2015. Most of the district will be attached to the LuVerne Community School District, which will whole grade share with the Algona Community School District. However, portions of the district are going to be attached to Clarion-Goldfield-Dows and West Hancock (Britt, Iowa) districts.

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