How did Dubuque's high school students do on the ACT (American College Test)?

We've a lot of data for you on our students' performance on this popular of college entrance examinations. Click on the logo and you can see the charts on a special page. You will see that in all areas our students rate well above the national averages.

What are the Fees for my student this year?

Click here for the latest schedule.

How do Dubuque Schools comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act and all of the accommodations your schools must make for students and teachers with special needs?

Click here to see all information regarding our interpretation of and compliance with this important set of guidelines and laws.

What is Certified Annual Public School Enrollment for 2005-2006

Click here for the PDF (Acrobat file)

Certified Annual Public School Enrollment is the calculated numbers of students we have enrolled both in and out of our district. Some students, for a variety of reasons, are schooled in special facilities, are home schooled for the majority of their learning, but they draw resources (books and learning materials) from the District. In any event, the number of students that are on this document does not match the head count taken on the first day. These figures help the State determine the amount of funding that will be issued to the District. The chart you will download by clicking on the link above, is also considered a snapshot of where we are with numbers, building by building, as of the third friday in September. This is an annual event.

Could you tell me when you will be updating the school boundaries.  I thought it was for 2006-2007, but am not sure.  also, how can I keep abreast of any changes that are being talked about?

The current school boundaries for elementary, middle and high schools are published on our website under this link to our Map Room.  These maps are as current as we can possibly make them.  The only problem is that there are several new streets that are continually being added to the maps every year, and the publisher of the maps we use to create our border maps has not issued updates. Nonetheless, you can still figure out what district a particular new subdivision is in by extending the borders west, sounth and north. 

But the best way to determine what school district a particular address is in is to simply call our transportation department and give them the address. They'll be happy to look it up for you and tell you which schools serve that address including provide the transportation opportunties, bus schedule, etc. 552-3275.

I might add that for security reasons, we cannot make information about bus schedules and stops available to the general public, however, this information is readily available to parents and guardians of our students.

Gary Olsen, Public Affairs

How are schools financed?

Great question! We happen to have a PowerPoint show that describes the formula which involves locally generated property tax revenue and state aid. The way our state (Iowa) calculates their state financial support to schools is based on need and student population among other things. This is a great presentation, and it's easy to download and view. Just click on the slide above.

What is the average class size in the Dubuque Community Schools?

Unfortunately, a simple answer to this question would be a misleading answer.

Across the district, classes exist with fewer than 10 students and classes exist with more than 30 students. "Classes" for some students with identified special needs may, in fact, be individualized.

However, if we divide the total number of elementary students at a given grade level by the number of regular education classroom teachers who provide instruction for the majority of the day, we can calculate up to 20 students in a kindergarten through third grade classroom and as many as 25 students in a fourth grade classroom for example. Of course, this is a gross simplification of the actual classroom-by-classroom numbers, but at least this, we hope answers your question. Also note that these estimates endeavor to capture a snapshot the entire district, and you really must examine the enrollment numbers school by school. For that kind of information, click here for the Certified Public School Enrollment figures.

Suffice to say, our district philosophy and our continuous goal is to reduce class size because studies have proven that smaller class sizes contribute to higher quality learning and more opportunities for individual learners.

What is the state-wide goal for elementary class size?

At both the state and federal level, funding is available to school districts to reduce the average class size in Kindergarten through grade 3 to 17 students. Wherever space permits, the Dubuque Community School District has added classrooms to try to reach that goal. Unfortunately, most of our schools do not have the space to provide an additional classroom. Therefore, we have added associates as an alternative way to provide support for basic skills instruction.

What about the high schools? I know of classes that are very small. What are class sizes there?

Class size varies widely at the high school, depending upon the nature of the class. A visitor to Hempstead or Dubuque Senior High would easily find classes with 15 or fewer students. That same visitor would also find classes in excess of 30.

In many lab courses, such as science classes, industrial technology workshop classes, and others, the enrollment is limited by facilities. In other, upper level classes - Advanced Placement classes, for example - enrollment is limited because only small numbers of students may have taken all of the prerequisites necessary for enrollment.

No meaningful single figure can convey accurate information about average class size at the high school level. However, the following recently recorded numbers (rounded up) of departmental class size averages for English, math, science and social studies are:

English 22

Math 22

Science 23

Social Studies 23

These numbers were rounded up.

Who do I turn to when there is a school building emergency? And what is the District's emergency response procedure?

Answer: Safety has become the uppermost priority in schools today. Learning cannot effectively take place in an unsafe environment. This is why the Dubuque Community School District and each school building have a crisis management team and procedures in place in the event of threats to our school buildings and our student and staff community.

We have put our staff people through rigorous training in how to deal with threats to the school, and we annually renew or supplement this training for experienced and especially new staff as needed. We also have a procedure our school administrators follow in the event we must evacuate any of our facilities and remove students to a place of safety. Naturally details about these plans, which are tailored to individual buildings in our district, are kept confidential. However, a high priority during such an evacuation is communication with parents, and a communication procedure is always at the ready.

What we obviously want to avoid is parents driving to schools, and clogging the access ways which may impede emergency vehicles trying to get to the scene. If an emergency situation occurs, the District will work closely with local radio and television stations to inform family members of staging areas and events as they develop. We are also planning to use technology to aid communication. Our Web site will be pressed into service with up-to-the minute information for families at www.dubuque.k12.ia.us.

The Dubuque School District has developed its crisis response plan in collaboration with Federal, State and local law enforcement officials as well as emergency medical organizations and medical facilities in the area.

John Woodin, and Dr. Kris Hall, Safety Procedure Planning, Gary Olsen, Public Affairs Coordinator: 563-552-3032

John Burgart,Superintendent of Schools)

Audubon School. Photo by Charlie Ellis