Welcome to Atlantic Community School District

 Superintendent’s Message  

Welcome to the Atlantic Community Schools.  Giving every child a chance to succeed every day is our highest priority. Opportunity is at the very heart of our work. The staff works tirelessly to ensure that students’ abilities are better today than yesterday and their abilities tomorrow will be better than today. While debate about accountability, test scores, and funding goes on, our staff diligently and dutifully attends to our students’ needs.

There has never been more tension among stakeholder groups with the elevated pressures on schools than now.  Expectations of schools are higher than ever for accountability measured by test scores and if not met, the community confidence in the schools is threatened.  Education beyond high school is practically a requirement.   Despite the challenges, our School Board manages district resources with courage and conviction, without extravagance, and with balanced consideration for taxpayers and the children we serve. Notwithstanding debate to the contrary, the facts reflect a reasonable budget for our district’s size. We offer what every child needs and every parent wants – opportunity.

In the past several years the School Board and the district staff responded to increased accountability by investing in proven math and literacy programs and advancing instructional strategies that enhance student learning. The district is working to implement the Common Core Standards and to develop accountability measures that ensure students are mastering the curriculum and enhancing their skills.

Our mission statement, “The Atlantic Community School District will prepare all learners to be creative, innovative and productive citizens by providing diverse opportunities to learn and apply relevant skills and knowledge in a positive, disciplined and challenging environment”, asserts the district’s commitment to all students in the community. With a district enrollment of approximately 1,500 students, we’re organized into a PreK-3 elementary school, a grade 4-5 elementary school, a grade 6-8 middle school, and a comprehensive grade 9-12 high school. In addition to our traditional schools, we operate an alternative high school and a hospital school.

Atlantic CSD’s award winning staff is among the best in the area as demonstrated by the district’s recognition as a recipient of the Breaking Barriers Award for Teaching and Learning. Our commitment to looking beyond the traditional is reflected in our emphasis on advanced staff training, on our staff and student technology infrastructure, and on our alternative instructional approaches.  One of our primary strategic objectives is to ensure that all learners have the knowledge and skills to progress to the next level of education regardless of their chosen path. We will continue to make every effort to provide the quality education to our students to assist them in becoming the best and brightest in Iowa.  

Thank you for visiting our district website.  Please feel free to contact us at 712-243-4252 with any questions that you may have about our district or our schools.

Sincerely,

Michael K. Amstein, Ed.D.
Superintendent, Atlantic Community School District

Breaking Barriers 2011 Video

Click on the link below to view the Breaking Barriers Video.

Breaking Barriers 2011 Video

Note: To download the video, click on file, and then download.  

Mission Statement

The Atlantic Community School District will prepare all learners to be creative, innovative and productive citizens by providing diverse opportunities to learn and apply relevant skills and knowledge in a positive, disciplined and challenging environment.

It is the policy of Atlantic Community Schools to provide an educational and working environment that provides an equal opportunity to all.  In accordance with federal and state law Atlantic Community School District prohibits unlawful discrimination on the basis of disability, sex, age, race, creed, color, national origin, religion, veteran status, sexual orientation, and gender identity.  This applies to all district administrators, staff, students, applicants for employment, and visitors.  Students, parents, staff or other individuals who believes that he/she has been subjected to discrimination or harassment in violation of the District's Equal Employment Opportunity Policy and/or the Anti-bullying/Harassment Policy may take action through an informal process, or a formal complaint process, or both.