Breakfast and lunch will be provided to all children in Ames for the summer of 2025 thanks to the Ames Community School District partnering with the Summer Food Service Program.
Summer meals will be provided on a first-come-first serve basis at the following locations and times:
Sawyer Elementary School, 4316 Ontario St.
- June 9 through July 17 (except June 19)
- Breakfast: Monday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.
- Lunch: Monday through Thursday, 11:15 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.
Boys and Girls Club, 210 S. 5th St.
- June 9 through August 8 (except June 19 and July 3 and 4)
- Breakfast: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.
- Lunch: Monday through Friday, 11:15 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.
- *There will be no lunch provide on June 24, or July 24
Next School Year: Leftover COVID-19 funds will be used to provide breakfast at the district’s 5 elementary schools, middle school and high school in the fall. The district doesn’t qualify for the Community Eligibility Program (CEP) under the National School Lunch and Breakfast Program, so it will have to determine by the end of the year if there are funds to continue offering free breakfast in the spring.
“While the district cannot permanently provide free breakfast to all students, it is fortunate to be able to provide temporary economic relief for its students and families for the first semester of the 2025-26 school year,” according to the ACSD school board agenda.
Results from math curriculum changes
At the start of the 2024-25 school year, i-Ready Classroom Mathematics, a research-based kindergarten through eighth grade math curriculum, was implemented after the district saw that “no grade levels were meeting projected growth rates and there was disproportionate achievement with traditionally underrepresented population,” according to a presentation from Associate Superintendent Jeff Hawkins.
After the curriculum was implemented, 26% of assessed students were mid-to-above grade level standards, and most grades were above average in performance areas such as numbers and operations, algebra and geometry.
Hawkins said the growth and achievement Ames students are seeing in the first year of a new curriculum is unusual.
“The number of the students at mid or above grade level far exceeds both the national and state average,” he said.
Feedback on the curriculum and student data will drive curriculum expansion in the 2025-26 school year.
Upcoming elementary school art curriculum changes
The elementary school art curriculum will also see a change in the 2025-26 school year to make assessment easier and more closely align the district with state standards.
“We envision an art classroom that empowers creative learners through the use of quality instruction so that all students can feel safe, valued, and yet they need to be successful,” Allison Mastroddi, an art teacher at Mitchell Elementary and Sawyer Elementary, said to the board.
Also Noteworthy
- 13 school district employees will retire after the end of this school year, some serving upwards of 30 years.
- 20 students received the seal of biliteracy, an honor received by students who show proficiency in English and at least one other language shown through reading, writing, listening and speaking skills. The other languages of proficiency were Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Portuguese and Japanese.
