Southwest Valley Named an ACAC School of Excellence.

Southwest Valley High School has been named a 2025 School of Excellence by ACT’s American College Application Campaign (ACAC), recognizing their efforts to support students in pursuing education and training beyond high school and for contributing to Iowa’s statewide ACAC efforts.

Southwest Valley is one of just 26 schools across the nation to earn the School of Excellence honor for its efforts in increasing the number of first-generation college students and students from low-income backgrounds pursuing postsecondary education.

"Southwest Valley High School is an exemplary model for Iowa's American College Application Campaign,” said Bureau of Iowa College Aid Section Chief Christina Sibaouih. “The school counseling team has worked diligently to build best practices and innovative strategies incorporating all steps of the college-going process to ensure all students have the best possible opportunities for success beyond high school."

The School of Excellence award aims to highlight and celebrate educators dedicated to student success, recognize schools serving as model participants in their state application campaign and stress the importance of postsecondary education.

Of the 43 students enrolled in Southwest Valley’s class of 2025, 40 students participated in the ACAC campaign and completed 70 applications to colleges and other postsecondary education opportunities.

“This shows that what we’re doing and trying to help these seniors does work,” said Southwest Valley school counselor Rachel Campbell. “Seeing more of our seniors take a college pathway shows they’re thinking about the opportunities in our district. We’re a small district and being recognized for those little things, I hope other smaller districts can use some of these ideas to build and expand their programs.”

To help prepare students for postsecondary success, Campbell and the staff at Southwest Valley host an FSA ID night in September to ensure students are ready to complete the FAFSA in October. Southwest Valley provides personalized support to help students complete the FAFSA and the Iowa Financial Aid Application in the fall, so they are ready for the college application season.

Throughout the year, students regularly participate in career days and college fairs, as well as a career-readiness class. That experience includes guidance on completing applications, crafting resumes, conducting mock interviews and completing scholarship applications.

Southwest Valley has partnered extensively with TRIO, a federally funded program, to identify and serve students that may need additional support in pursuing postsecondary education. Approximately 20% of Southwest Valley students are the first members of their family to attend college, while nearly 30% come from low-income backgrounds.

“We partner with TRIO to make sure we make time for kids in need of support,” Campbell said. “Being first in their family to pursue postsecondary education, a lot of their parents may not be familiar with the college-going steps. It’s nice to be able to reach out to those kids at school and give them a good pathway to be successful.”

The small class sizes at Southwest Valley also help Campbell provide direct support to nearly every student during the school day and throughout the year, ensuring each student has a pathway to their postsecondary goals.

“During application week, I changed our meetings to one-on-ones, and it was a huge difference,” Campbell said. “It’s much more beneficial. Many students don’t have internet access at home to research and complete applications. We could discuss what career pathways might lead to and what programs to look at. We got a lot more personal with it.”

After students successfully completed their applications with Campbell’s assistance, they filled out a poster highlighting their decision, which was displayed in the school's hallways. Those posters are one of the many items Southwest Valley receives from the Iowa Department of Education as part of its participation in the Bureau of Iowa College Aid’s Course to College program.

Schools participating in the Course to College program receive five-step support and resources 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.    

“I'm always up for new ideas and new ways to engage our students,” Campbell said. “I love being part of Course to College because I like to collaborate with others and hear what others are doing. It’s a good experience to have more collaboration because the more ideas, the better.”

The college-going culture at Southwest Valley has also been bolstered by community support through school to work programs and career-site experiences.

“The community works wonderfully with us in providing these experiences and providing feedback on areas students excel and need assistance,” Campbell said. “Our communities in Vilisca and Corning are very much involved and excited to see the next generation come and work with them, which has a huge impact on this district.”

The 40 members of Southwest Valley’s senior class who successfully participated in the ACAC contributed to the statewide campaign that saw 95 high schools participate in Iowa, with more than 4,124 high school seniors completing nearly 6,000 college applications during Iowa ACAC events.

Nationally, 9,921 schools participated, with nearly 2 million seniors successfully completing more than 2.6 million applications during an application event.

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