Van Meter Community School District

GAMEDAY: Good luck to our girls and boys cross country teams tonight at the Clarke Community cross country meet! Let’s go, dawgs! 🏃
🕖 4:30pm
📍 East Lake Park (2451 Hwy 34, Osceola, IA)
🎟️ $5 per car
#VanMeter

Our High School Intro to Engineering students created puzzle cubes from wood blocks and are now using CAD software to 3D model them! 🧩 #VanMeter

Our 7th grade math students are wrapping up their first unit on Scale Drawings! Each group is measuring and scaling the classroom, including objects and their locations, as part of a hands-on project. 📏 #VanMeter

We are proud to share that Van Meter Community School District has been named a 2025 Top Workplace by the Des Moines Register! 🎉

This recognition is especially meaningful because it’s based on feedback directly from our teachers and staff. It reflects the positive, collaborative environment our team works hard to build every day—one where students are truly at the center.

With 1,200 students all under one roof, Van Meter offers a personalized learning experience where staff, students, and families thrive together. 💙

#VanMeter

GAMEDAY: Our boys and girls cross country teams are traveling to the Nevada Invite today! Best of luck, dawgs! 🏃
🕖 4:30pm
📍 Hickory Grove Park – 67464 250th St, Colo, IA 50056
🎟️ https://www.gobound.com/ia/schools/nevada/tickets
#VanMeter

Homecoming Week is officially here, and we’re so excited to enjoy the fun with our students, staff, families, and alumni! 🎉

Here’s our schedule for the week:

Sunday, September 28:
✨ Grudge Match: 4:00-5:00pm in the South Gym
✨ SLT ice cream social: 5:00-5:30pm
✨ Powder Puff: 5:30-6:30pm on the Main Football Field (weather permitting)

Friday, October 3:
✨ Van Meter Trivia: 8:35-9:00am
✨ K-12 connection activity: 9:00-9:30am
✨ HS Bulldog Games: 9:40-11:40am
✨ JH Bulldog Game Stations: 9:40-10:40am
✨ HS homecoming court game: 11:45-12:00pm
✨ Homecoming Court Carpool Karaoke: 12:00-12:15pm
✨ Fall coaches/directors speak: 12:15-12:25pm
✨ Lip Sync Battle: 12:25-12:35pm
✨ Homecoming Court Introductions: 6:25pm
✨ Crowning crowning: 6:30pm
✨ Homecoming Football Game 7:00pm

Saturday, October 4:
✨ High School Homecoming Dance: 8:00-10:00pm

GAMEDAY: Our volleyball team is traveling to the Nevada Cubs volleyball tournament today. Good luck, dawgs! 🏐
🕖 9:35am
📍 Nevada HS
📈 Live Stats: https://tinyurl.com/NevadaVB2023
🎟️ https://www.gobound.com/ia/schools/nevada/tickets
#VanMeter

GAMEDAY: Our football team is traveling tonight to take on the Clarinda Cardinals at Clarinda High School. Go get ‘em, dawgs! 🏈
🕖 7:00pm
📍 Clarinda HS
🎥 https://fan.hudl.com/usa/ia/clarinda/organization/15976/clarinda-high-school
📈 https://tinyurl.com/ye9vd46j
🎟️ https://www.gobound.com/ia/schools/clarinda/tickets
#VanMeter

Our elementary students put their creativity to work today using chomp saws to cut out their very own designs! 🍦

Officer Cooper joined Mrs. Garrison’s 3rd grade class today! He shared some safety tips, read a book and answered questions. ✨ #VanMeter

It’s #SeeSayDay—a reminder that school safety is everyone’s responsibility. If you see or hear anything that could be a possible safety threat, report it to a teacher, staff member, or another trusted adult right away.

You can also make an anonymous report via this link: https://safeandsoundiowa.gov/

Recently, our VMSCC members took a field trip to Kuehn Conservation! 🌟

Check out a firsthand experience written by a VMSCC member below.

“For our first VMSCC field trip of the year, we visited Kuehn Conservation on Friday, September 19.

When we arrived, Allie and Bob—naturalists from Dallas County Conservation—explained that we would be helping with two projects: transplanting native prairie plants near the arbor, and catching and tagging Monarch butterflies. Allie taught us how to tell the difference between male and female Monarchs, and even how to identify the Viceroy, which is known as the Monarch’s lookalike.

We split our large group into two: Group 1 included 12th and 9th graders, and Group 2 included 8th, 10th, and 11th graders. Both groups had the chance to participate in both projects.

Many Monarchs were tagged and lots of native plants were transplanted, followed by a game of limbo after we lined up all the empty plant containers.

After lunch, we got to choose whether to go on a hike or continue catching Monarchs. The whole experience was a blast for both the VMSCC members and chaperones.

Thank you to Dallas County Conservation for hosting us at Kuehn Conservation!”

Thank you to all who made this experience great for our students! 🦋

GAMEDAY: Best of luck to our volleyball team as they take on the Interstate 35 Roadrunners tonight at HOME! Go dawgs! 🏐
🕖 7:15pm
📍 Van Meter HS
🎥 http://fan.hudl.com/usa/ia/van-meter/organization/15612/van-meter-high-school
📈 https://tinyurl.com/yc6nftpf
🎟️ https://www.vancoevents.com/us/DGRX
#VanMeter

Our 8th grade Language Arts class has been raising Monarch caterpillars as part of a storytelling unit! Monarchs are an endangered species native to our prairie landscape, and their population has declined dramatically over the past fifty years. 🐛

Students have explored the Monarch’s journey through both scientific and cultural lenses. Special thanks to local environmental educator and storyteller Chris Adkins, who visited the classroom to share how Monarchs and night sky patterns connect to cultural stories and personal reflection.

This week, as our classroom butterflies emerge from their chrysalises, students will tag and release them for their 1,500-mile migration journey to Mexico. 🦋

Our 7th graders put their creative recipe skills to work and created their own trail mix and Orange Julius during the nutrition food lab last week! 🧑‍🍳

GAMEDAY: Good luck to our varsity volleyball team today as they travel to compete in Dike-New Hartford’s volleyball tournament. Go dawgs! 🏐
🕖 9:30am
📍 Dike-New Hartford HS
📈 www.gobound.com/ia/ighsau/vb/2025-26/comps/h20250411065245012416e54dc5c2545
🎟️ tinyurl.com/yyfsz2b4
#VanMeter

We’re proud to share that all three of our buildings have earned a High Performing rating on the Iowa School Performance Profile! This recognition reflects the hard work of our students, staff, and families. 👏

View the full report here: https://www.iaschoolperformance.gov/ECP/StateDistrictSchool/DistrictSummary?k=9498&y=2025

8th graders have been improving their decision-making skills through group challenges and a special version of Jenga! Students also evaluated how their peers approached solving real-world teen issues. 💬

Students in our Foods class studied food trends from various decades, then prepared a recipe or food item that was popular during that time. Some of the items they made included avocado toast, dirt cake, and smoothie bowls! 🍮

Our 5th grade students have been enjoying working in groups to match different representations of multiplication problems! 🧠