BVU and Newton Schools Bond Through Strategic Partnership
Strategic Partnership allows employees of the Newton Community School District, as well as eligible family members, to receive grant funding to lower the cost of education while enrolled in classes at BVU's Storm Lake campus.
Buena Vista University (BVU) and the Newton Community School District have joined forces as Strategic Partners to strengthen their communities and the people they serve.
This partnership allows employees of the Newton schools, as well as eligible family members of full-time employees, to receive grant funding to lower the overall cost of education while enrolled in classes at BVU’s Storm Lake campus. Partner grant funding also lowers the cost per credit hour for students enrolled in BVU’s convenient online/hybrid undergraduate programs or the organizational leadership graduate program.
BVU professors and staff are also available for training programs, workshops, and more should officials in Newton seek those services and expertise.
“A Strategic Partnership with Buena Vista University represents a win-win arrangement for our schools, the communities we serve, and for BVU,” says Newton Superintendent of Schools Tom Messinger. “It is through education that we prepare future generations as lifelong learners. Making a BVU education more accessible for our employees and their families can only serve to boost our professionals and the young people—those future leaders—we continue to serve.”
“A Strategic Partnership with Buena Vista University represents a win-win arrangement for our schools, the communities we serve, and for BVU.”
Newton Superintendent of Schools Tom Messinger
According to Messinger, this benefit is made even more accessible to those in the Newton Community School District because of the access employees and their families have to BVU’s longtime partner, Des Moines Area Community College at Newton. For decades, BVU has long enjoyed educational ties with DMACC at the Newton campus as students enrolled in a program through the community college can seamlessly transfer their credits toward their bachelor’s degree at BVU. Students receive personalized support including admissions and enrollment counseling and academic advising through BVU’s office on DMACC’s Newton campus.
The Newton Community School District, located a 30-minute drive east of Des Moines, provides educational programs for nearly 3,000 students in the Jasper County seat. The school district, which employs 450, features one high school, one middle school, WEST Academy, and four elementary schools. Berg Middle School, a $27-million structure, is the result of a general obligation bond that earned overwhelming support throughout the community. The school district is also home to a Blue Ribbon School recognized by the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program.
“Buena Vista University is excited to join the Newton Community School District within our growing Strategic Partnerships initiative,” says BVU Director of Strategic Partnerships Laura Todd. “For more than 130 years, BVU has been recognized as a leader in Iowa educational service, an honor we share with the Newton Community School District, which has been lauded for its educational excellence on both a state and a national level.
For more information about BVU’s Strategic Partnerships and partner opportunities, please visit the BVU website at bvu.edu/strategic-partnerships or contact Strategic Partnerships at StrategicPartnerships@bvu.edu.