User:Ankeny Community School District

Home of the Hawks and Hawkettes, the Ankeny Community School District is located in Polk County, Iowa and is six miles from the capitol city, Des Moines. Ankeny is part of the Central Iowa Metro League (CIML), and is extremely competitive in sports and musical activities.

Ankeny: Then and now

John F. Ankeny bought the land that later would become Ankeny on July 1, 1874 for $1,600. Ankeny was officially declared a city in 1961, with 2,964 residents, more than double the 1950 total. 47 years later, the population reached an astonishing 42,287 residents in July 2008.

The first school, built of logs, was located approximately one mile south of Ankeny where the east entrance of the Iowa State Experimental farm joined Highway 69. This school was later re-located on the east side of Ankeny Boulevard, just south of First Street. There was no new construction until 1952 when the original part of the Parkview building was constructed. In 1957, the west wing was added and in 1964 an east wing was completed, and that’s when Parkview became Ankeny High School.

Northwest Elementary on West 1st Street was the first building after the original Parkview building. It was completed in 1962. Next was East Elementary, built in 1963. Southeast Elementary on South Trilien, was opened in 1969. The fourth building on School Street was completed and opened in 1972 as Terrace Elementary.

Since 1975, Ankeny schools have added: Ankeny Senior High School, Northview Middle School, Westwood Elementary, Northeast Elementary, Crocker Elementary, and Ashland Ridge Elementary.

Superintendents who have served at Ankeny Schools include:
• H.H. VanBethuysen 1917-1919
• E.G. Clark 1919-1921
• E.W. Neveln 1921-1943
• Cliff Evans 1943-1947
• Ted Karges 1948-1951
• Ralph Jorgensen 1951-1958
• Melvin Anderson 1958-1960
• Keith Hopkins 1960-1986
• Dr. Ben Norman 1986-2002
• Kent Mutchler 2002-2006
• Veronica Stalker 2006-2007
• Dr. Matthew Wendt 2007-Present

The district is projected to serve more than 8,200 students in 2009-2010. Ankeny is the 10th largest district in the state (student enrollment), and is the 2nd fastest-growing district in the state. By 2014-2015, the district is projected to enroll 9,749 students and by 2017-2018 the district is projected to enroll 10,320 students.

The Ankeny School district is currently involved in a ten-year facility plan that culminates in the operation of two high schools in the 2013-2014 school year. At that time, the district will operate as two, full-functioning secondary school systems. In 2009, construction began on the new high school in Prairie Trail, and construction on a 2nd new high school is slated to begin in 2010. Interested in seeing the timeline for the project? Click Here

Academics

Ankeny Community Schools enjoy an outstanding reputation in the state for an exemplary and well-balanced curricular and co-curricular programs designed to meet the needs of all students. Some of the academic accomplishments Ankeny students achieved in 2008-2009 were:
- 97% graduation rate (#1 among the ten largest districts in Iowa)
- 0.29% dropout rate (Lowest among the ten largest districts in Iowa)
- 95.94% average daily attendance rate
- 23.8 average composite score on ACT, while state average is 22.4
- 77% of the graduating class accepted to a college
- 9,800 DMACC credits were earned by students in 2008-2009

Please visit the Ankeny Community School District website for additional information.

Schools

The district has 11 school buildings, using a K-5, 6-7, 8-9 and 10-12 grade level structure. Ankeny has 1,023 total employees, with 557 teachers.

Ankeny High School
Northview Middle School
Parkview Middle School
Ashland Ridge Elementary School
Crocker Elementary School
East Elementary School
Northeast Elementary School
Northwest Elementary School
Southeast Elementary School
Terrace Elementary School
Westwood Elementary School

Athletics

Ankeny Community Schools have a rich tradition of excellence in athletics, arts and activities. Ankeny has a number of competitive teams and is often in the running for conference and state championships.

Ankeny girls’ athletics rose in prominence in the late 1970s and early 1980s under Coach Dick Rasmussen, while he worked with the basketball and softball teams.

Under the direction of Coach Scott DeJong, the Hawkette basketball team has been one of the best in the state year-in and year-out. The Ankeny girls basketball team holds the record for the most consecutive state championships. They were victorious from 2002 to 2005; during the latter they rose as high as #2 in USA Today’s Super 25 national rankings. The Hawkettes hold the record for the most state titles by a school in Iowa history, having won six titles under Coach De Jong in the five-girl era and another three under the old six-girl rule.

Ankeny also has a very successful football team, coached by Jerry Pezzetti. Pezzetti has coached over 300 wins in his 40+ year career at Ankeny including a state championship in 1997. Since 1998 and with the help of special teams coach Peter Rameh, four Hawk kickers have played college football for teams in the Division I Bowl Sub-division, including former University of Miami All-American Todd Sievers

The volleyball squad has a strong winning tradition. Under Coach Dave Whims, the team has had several state tournament appearances and have won the state championship in 2004, 2005, and 2008.

The Ankeny girl’s golf team, coached by Toni Dickey, has had tremendous success in recent years. The team appeared in the state tournament from 2001 to 2005 and 2007 to 2009. The team has four championships, 2008, 2004, 2003, and 1986. In the spring of 2009, the girl’s placed 3rd at the state tournament. The girl’s have been crowned conference champions in each year of the current decade.

The Ankeny boy’s soccer team is coached by Rick Isaacson, with the assistance of Peter Rameh. The team made its first ever state tournament appearance in 2007, where they won the state title with a 1-0 victory over Valley High School after a last-minute goal by Jacob Misel.

The baseball team has nine state tournament appearances, including four state runner-ups and one state championship in 1992.

In recent years, Ankeny High School alumni have participated in NCAA Division I athletics in many sports, including football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, women's golf, equestrian, men's and women's track and field, men's and women's swimming, softball, volleyball, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's cross country, and wrestling.

Several former Ankeny athletes have reached the highest level of competition at the professional level:

• Pat Dunsmore played just one year of high school football, but played well enough to earn a scholarship to Drake and went on to become an All-American receiver. He played three seasons in the NFL as a tight end. He was a member of the Chicago Bears’ team that won the Super Bowl in 1985.

• Dennis Gibson was a standout linebacker at Ankeny and was a three-year starter at Iowa State. He was an 8th round draft pick by the Detroit Lions in 1987. He helped the Lions to the NFC Championship Game in 1991 and went on to make nearly 500 tackles during his seven seasons in Detroit. He later joined the San Diego Charges in 1994 and played in the Super Bowl that same year.

• Benj Sampson pitched the Ankeny baseball team to the Class 4-A state championship in 1992. He elected to turn pro after being selected by the Minnesota Twins in the 6th round of the 1993 amateur draft. Sampson made his major-league debut with the Twins in September of 1998. He complied a 1.56 ERA in five appearances, and earned a spot on Minnesota’s opening-day roster in 1999.

For more information regarding the history and success of Ankeny Athletics, please visit the Ankeny Athletics Booster Club
website.

Activities

The Ankeny Bands continues to get Division I in state contests, with most, if not all, of their students participating in Perry and other solo competitions. The bands also have two jazz bands, Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Lab, and one marching band, the Marching Hawks.

There are three show choirs at Ankeny High School; Visual Adrenaline (VA), Perpetual Motion (PM) and Intensity, VA and PM being coed, while Intensity being an all girls choir, respectfully. VA continues to gain First Place in competitions, and is 11th in the nation. Jim Cacciatore leads Intensity, while Lester Miller directs VA and PM.

The Drama department does three plays a year: a fall play, a children's play (which is led by the students) and a spring musical.

For more information about Ankeny bands, please visit the Ankeny Bands website.
For more information on choral music, please visit the Ankeny Choral Music website.

Notable Alumni

• Chris Fehn, member of Slipknot
• Dennis Albaugh, Owner of Albaugh Chemical, #468 on the 2009 The World's Billionaires list published by Forbes
• Paul Rhoads, Head Coach of the Iowa State University Football team