Hempstead High School (Dubuque, Iowa) - History

History

After World War II, the population of Dubuque moved further out to the west. The children born during the post-war baby boom also were in their late teens at the time. The community found that Senior High School would no longer be enough to serve the needs of the community.

In 1966, the district began planning for Hempstead. District employees were encouraged to offer their thoughts on the design of the new building. In the spring of 1967, a $6.7 million dollar bond issue was approved to cover the costs of the building. In the fall of 1968, construction began on the new building, with completion scheduled by the fall of 1969. Construction was delayed by labor strikes and bad weather, which resulted in the building not being complete until the spring of 1970. The layout of the building looked like a letter "H" from an overhead view.

MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of Hempstead High School is to educate each student to meet successfully the challenges and opportunities in a changing world.

Because Hempstead was not yet ready, classes for Hempstead students were initially held at Senior High School. In the spring of 1970, students began receiving education at Hempstead for the first time under Principal Dr. Roger Kampschroer. In 1970, there was no graduating class because there was no senior class that first year.

In the 1990s, the windows on the second floor were replaced with windows that could be opened. The locker bay was recently refurbished. In the summer of 2005, construction began to expand the school, as enrollment is expected to increase over the next several years. Over the next several years the school district has formulated plans to completely remodel the school.

Hempstead was affected by the mumps outbreak that struck Iowa in 2006 and ravaged the student body. While school was not shut down and only a small number of students were infected, the long-standing Tri-II Music Festival which Hempstead was hosting that year was downscaled, and several sports matches were canceled.

In 2007 Hempstead lost two students in the span of two weeks. Lauren Schmidt was killed when she was struck while crossing Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the school. A week later Chris Runde died after a car accident the night before the day of homecoming.