Ottumwa High School named ACAC School of Excellence

Earlier this month, ACT's American College Application Campaign (ACAC) named Ottumwa High School as a 2024 School of Excellence as part of the Iowa ACAC campaign. Ottumwa High School is one of just 26 outstanding schools recognized nationally as a School of Excellence for efforts to increase the number of first-generation college students and students from low-income backgrounds pursuing a college degree or other higher education credential.

Danielle Sampson, Bureau of Iowa College Aid community engagement consultant and Iowa ACAC program coordinator, formally presented the award to staff during a recent ceremony at Ottumwa High School.

"Ottumwa High School was the clear choice in Iowa for the School of Excellence Award for 2024,” Sampson said. “Ottumwa's college and career readiness team strives to meet the postsecondary goals of all students by providing specialized support for underserved and underrepresented populations in our postsecondary institutions, truly making every student believe that they can achieve a postsecondary education."

The School of Excellence recipients are selected based on timely data submission, demonstrating commitment to student success and a promise to serve as an exemplary model for their state's application campaign.

Those efforts were part of a larger statewide and national campaign that saw 82 high schools participate in Iowa. More than 3,200 high school seniors completed a college application during Iowa ACAC events.

Nationally, 5,854 schools participated, and more than 477,000 high school seniors submitted at least one college application during an event, an increase of more than 10,000 from 2023. In total, students at participating schools submitted 1,316,688 college applications. Since the campaign's inception, nearly 5.17 million students have submitted more than 10 million applications since 2005. This is the sixth year that ACAC has recognized outstanding schools.

Ottumwa High School's efforts included a College Going Week in September with three days of activities for seniors, including Federal Student Aid (FSA) ID creation, College Application Day and Scholarship Application Day. Staff also invited admissions staff from local colleges and representatives from the skilled trades and military to support students in their application and understanding the steps in their potential postsecondary pathway. These events also allow students the opportunity to ask questions and receive assistance in completing applications and submitting additional documents such as transcripts.

"There's something that's so rewarding about seeing our state coordinators take part in helping students navigate the admission process," ACAC Director Lisa King said. "Students feel more confident and empowered to apply to college, and thanks to initiatives like the American College Application Campaign, it all serves as a reminder of the impact we can have."

Ottumwa High School also relies heavily upon the Bureau of Iowa College Aid's Course to College program that provides five-step support and resources for schools to cultivate a college-going culture from college preparedness through the transition to postsecondary education and training. Registered Course to College schools receive full access to all supports that the program provides, including publications for students and families, marketing materials, a newsletter, weekly network calls, texting hotline, shared resources and more.                                                  

"The Course to College programming is great," said Ottumwa High School College and Career Transition Coach Juanita Zavala. "We provide the Course to College booklet to all our students. It provides information to students about all the schools in Iowa, scholarship information, tasks students can complete each school year and a breakdown of pathways."

Schools can register online to be a part of Course to College or contact Danielle Sampson at  danielle.sampson@iowa.gov.

Throughout the year, Ottumwa staff also provide visits from college admission professionals, military visits, lunch and learns, college fairs, career fairs, campus visits and presentations through ICAN, such as Understanding the FAFSA and College and Career Preparation. School counselors also aid students with career assessments and various activities to help with their career pathway decisions.

During its College Application Day, Ottumwa students successfully submitted 170 applications. At its first FAFSA completion event, 27 FAFSAs were completed in three hours to build off of a three percentage point increase that Ottumwa experienced in FAFSA completion in 2024.

These gains directly impact the students the ACAC seeks to target as 50 percent of students in Ottumwa's class of 2025 are from low-income backgrounds and 27 percent are first-generation students.

"First-generation and underrepresented students face barriers when it comes to understanding the college process itself," Zavala said. "They may not be able to explain to parents what FAFSA is and why it's important to apply early. Not only for FAFSA but also the Iowa Financial Aid Application, college applications and scholarships, as many colleges and scholarships have priority deadlines as do scholarships. If kids wait, they may lose financial aid opportunities that help them pay for college."

Since the School of Excellence Award was first established in 2019, six Iowa high schools have earned the honor as Ottumwa High School joins previous winners Perry High School, Mason City High School, Muscatine High School, South Tama High School and West Liberty High School.

However, achieving this lofty status required more than just dedicated school counselors and staff to remove the barriers students face in pursuing education and training beyond high school and multiple postsecondary pathways.

"Collaboration is key, these events would not be able to come to fruition without community partners and the involvement of counselors, teachers, staff and administrators," Zavala said. "Creating a College and Career Advisory Committee has been beneficial because we have community partners as well as teachers and counselors on the team who provide feedback and suggestions."

Zavala's team of high school and middle school counselors, many of whom joined her in receiving the award, includes Ashley De Paz, Abby Brain, Mia Calcaterra, Taryn Mottet, Chad Willis, Jessica Dawdy, Brenda Smart and Megan Wetrich.

"This award motivates us to continue striving for excellence and to contribute meaningfully to increase college applications and to helping students with their journey," Zavala said. "We look forward to continuing to work hard and to growing in ways that live up to this recognition."