But for the students, their parents and everyone else who lives within the district, it will hardly seem new. After all, the name Southeast Valley has been attached to the high school in Gowrie and the middle school in Burnside since 2014.

Those schools got that name when the Prairie Valley and Southeast Webster Grand school districts entered a grade sharing agreement for fifth through 12 grades.

After nearly 10 years of that agreement, the voters of the two districts decided to fully combine them in a March 2, 2022, referendum.

As a result of that vote, the new Southeast Valley School District will commence operations Saturday.

“I’m just really excited about the future of Southeast Valley, for the school and for the students,” district Superintendent Brian Johnson told The Messenger after the merger was approved by the voters.

“I think it’s great because our communities have given us the strong foundation to be great,” he added.

Thanks to the long period of grade-sharing, there will not be much noticeable difference for students, parents and others. Perhaps the most obvious change will be school buses sporting the name Southeast Valley instead of Prairie Valley or Southeast Webster Grand.

The district will retain the high school in Gowrie, the middle school in Burnside and the elementary schools in Dayton and Farnhamville.

The new district will be the second largest one in Iowa in terms of geographic size, covering about 500 square miles. Only the Western Dubuque Community School District is bigger, at about 550 square miles.

Southeast Valley includes all of southern Webster County, plus parts of Boone, Calhoun and Greene counties.