ANKENY, Iowa — While students across Iowa look forward to the first day of classes, students in Ankeny have something else to look forward to that’s coming in a few years.
The Ankeny School District unveiled plans for a new learning facility for high school students. The facility will be called the Innovative Hub. They plan to use the space to offer some traditional classes along with nontraditional opportunities.
“We might have a business expert coming in and working with our students, mentoring them. We might have students going out into the business community and doing internships. We might even be able to offer some sort of partnership within the facility where there’s a business running and students receiving instruction all at the same time. So, it’ll both look like high school as you know it and high school as you can only dream it right now,” said Samantha Aukes, the Ankeny School District’s Chief of Communications.
City State Bank Norwalk Fieldhouse is open for business The district says they’re still deciding on logistics, like what hours the facility will be open and the staff in the building, but they are currently designing the facility and the curriculum.
The district plans to pursue a bond referendum in 2025 to help bring the idea to life. If approved by voters, the facility is planned to be available during the 2028-2029 school year.
The district and DMACC signed a letter of commitment to house the Innovative Hub on DMACC’s Ankeny campus. While this agreement isn’t final, the district says it would be an ideal location for the hub.
DMACC’s lake on the campus provides the district the ability to teach a water ecology class through the hub. This type of class is difficult to provide in a traditional school setting, so it offers new opportunities for Ankeny students.
Another possibility for the hub is to teach students about operating a business by having them operate a coffee shop inside the hub. Aukes also said the district plans to use the hub to provide students additional training in fields like healthcare, law enforcement, official offices, etc.
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