These and other innovations in the Iowa City Community School District have earned Superintendent Barbara Grohe, MED '68, the respect of her peers and the title of 1998 National Superintendent of the Year from the American Association of School Administrators. Grohe and 49 other state superintendents of the year competed for the national honor, which was decided by a team of educators and business people representing the association. Grohe's school district is the eighth-largest in Iowa, with 10,500 students from a diverse mix of international, minority, affluent and needy families. Grohe has countered financial limitations that challenge today's schools by establishing strong ties between her district and the comm-unity. The number of partnerships between schools and businesses has increased from 25 when she became superintendent in 1990 to 250 today.
Adults have a responsibility to give that chance to as many children as possible.
Grohe's career in education began in 1968 when she took a job as an elementary school teacher with New Kensington-Arnold schools in her hometown. She also worked as a teacher and administrator in Wisconsin before taking the post in Iowa City.