A crew from Coonrod & Associates has removed the Jefferson Elementary School bell from the concrete base where it has sat since 1941. It will be taken to Kentucky where it will be refurbished. The…

Jefferson Elementary had 72 second-graders who met the Caldecott Challenge of reading 20 or more Caldecott Medal-winning books. Five students earned trophies for reading all 84 Caldecott Medal books. 

Iola got a sweetheart deal on Valentine’s Day, as school board members learned a Kansas City company wants to convert all three of  its elementary schools into housing, an investment worth about $20 million. At…

History depends on those who tell it. And no one tells it the same way. That’s the case with Iola’s first school bell, according to Donna Houser, a history buff who has been researching the…

As construction progresses on Iola’s new elementary school — it’s scheduled to open in August — the district’s focus shifts once again to the fate of the three existing grade school properties. Bids will be…

It’s never too early to learn leadership skills. The Leadership Crew, a group of six second graders at Jefferson Elementary School, gave a presentation to the USD 257 school board about their activities this year.…

Jefferson Elementary School entertained a Bowlus Fine Arts Center crowd with an assortment of festive songs as part of its winter program, “An Old-Fashioned Christmas.” The first- and second-graders were later joined on stage by…

“Oh! Oh! I have an idea,” Angelito Young, a second- grader at Jefferson Elementary School exclaimed Friday morning. She quickly rearranged a series of plastic and metal cubes in a specific order, then held her…

“Everyone is a reader. Some just haven’t found their favorite book yet.” — Anonymous Music teacher Mikaela Crotchett wasn’t a big reader until she came to Iola schools this fall. She soon learned she’d need…

The Southeast Kansas Library System awarded several grants to area libraries to develop their collections. Jefferson Elementary received $1,490.41, specifically to purchase materials that pertain to STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — subjects.…