BVU, Muscatine Schools Establish Strategic Partnership
Collaboration with Buena Vista University broadens educational opportunities for Muscatine Community School District employees and their eligible family members.
Buena Vista University (BVU) and the Muscatine Community School District have aligned as Strategic Partners to help support those who educate students while strengthening their communities and the people they serve.
This partnership allows for employees of the Muscatine Community School District, 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 undergraduate programs or the organizational leadership graduate program.
“This is a great partnership and an opportunity that our staff will certainly explore and I hope take advantage of,” says Muscatine Community School District Communications Director Tony Loconsole. “This adds another feather to our cap, so we’re definitely appreciative.”
"I like how BVU is taking a proactive approach and partnering with schools promoting the education profession. For those students who prefer the small college setting as I did, BVU can provide ample opportunities and experiences for them.”
Muscatine Community School District Director of Finance and Budget Tom Anderson '88
The Muscatine Community School District provides educational programs for about 4,400 students in the Muscatine County seat. About 800 staff members serve the school district’s prekindergarten center, six elementary schools, junior high school, and high school. Ensuring every student excels in thinking, learning, achieving, and caring in partnership with its staff, families, and community is the aim of the Muscatine Community School District, which maintains that each student is a success story.
“Our educators are always looking for ways to move up on the salary schedule or advance their own content area, and there are not a lot of programs that don’t involve at least some in-person components, which is difficult for a lot of our staff members who have families and small children at home,” says Muscatine Community School District Director of Human Resources and Equity Jaime Kroeger. “Anything we can do to help offset some of that cost for them or provide different opportunities for them to engage in remote learning we can only see as a benefit.”
“The teaching profession is very challenging,” says Muscatine Community School District Director of Finance and Budget Tom Anderson ’88. “Twenty years ago when I started in this business, I remember there being hundreds of applicants for elementary teaching positions. Today, we get a handful. I like how BVU is taking a proactive approach and partnering with schools promoting the education profession. For those students who prefer the small college setting as I did, BVU can provide ample opportunities and experiences for them.”
“Buena Vista University is thrilled to partner with the Muscatine Community School District, extending educational benefits to its employees and their eligible family members through our Strategic Partnerships initiative,” says BVU Director of Strategic Partnerships Laura Todd. “An accessible and affordable education remains at the heart of building stronger individuals and communities, so we look forward to the opportunities this collaboration will create.”
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.