-Photo courtesy of Mindi Spear, Algona High School
Algona football player Trevon Smith catches a touchdown against Humboldt on Aug. 28, 2020. The 2020 football season was the first season Algona has played on its new artificial turf.

ALGONA — The past year has been an interesting one for Algona Community School District Superintendent Joe Carter.

“Well, 2020 was a year that we’ll never forget in schools,” he said. “But I’m really, really proud of our students, our staff and our community for finding ways for our kids to be successful.”

Having the students in the school buildings for face-to-face instruction every day during the first semester was important for Carter.

“We’ve been able to do it in a healthy way and I’m really proud of the support that we’ve received from our community and our families and the work of our staff to make that happen,” he said.

Possibly the largest project the Algona district completed in 2020 was putting in artificial turf on the Bulldogs’ football field. This is the first time Algona has had artificial turf on its field and it’s been a great addition to the facility, the superintendent said.

“We had safety concerns with our old field, drainage concerns and we weren’t able to allow our youth teams to use it on weekends,” Carter said. “All of that was gone this fall, the field was safe, it played great.”

The district was able to allow the lower-level youth teams to hold events on the field as well.

Looking ahead at 2021, Algona schools will be working on a new building project of an Athletic Gateway facility with new concession stands, restrooms and handicap accessibility to all of the Bulldogs’ outdoor fields. The project will also move the softball field over to this area, Carter said.

“We’re really excited about that addition to our facilities,” he said.

Algona public schools currently serve about 1,350 students.

“Our certified enrollment went down slightly, but we feel really good about our stable enrollment moving ahead,” Carter said.

In the spring of 2020, the Algona district signed a resolution to study reorganization with the Lu Verne Community School District, Carter said, though no solid plans have been made yet.

“We continue to work collaboratively with the Lu Verne district with professional development, staffing and all areas to see how the districts can work together and benefit from each other,” he said.