Baxter

• Baxter Early Learning Center received the news that it was awarded a four rating on the state’s Quality Rating System for day care. The one-to-five rating system, five being the highest, is a tool used by the Iowa Department of Human Resources to measure the quality of child care offered at various facilities across the state. The staff at the local facility in Baxter have a goal of attaining an upper-level score to assure residents they are doing the best for the 131 kids enrolled in their program. — Jasper County Tribune

Cedar Rapids

• Nearly 100 students and educators of 20 northeast Iowa school districts attended a recent “Federal Judiciary 101 Youth Summit” on April 6 at the Federal Court House in Cedar Rapids. Linn-Mar and Marion High School students were among them. Sen. Charles Grassley, Judge Michael J. Melloy of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and Chief Judge John Jarvey of the U.S. District Court of Southern District of Iowa, each offered details about the federal judiciary and explained their individual roles in the process. — Marion Times

Monroe

• When it comes to math, PCM Middle School seventh grader Evan Johnson just gets it. In his high school-level geometry class, the 13-year-old student from Monroe is studying up on cyclic quadrilaterals, vertexes and angles in circles, a few years ahead of your typical seventh grade math curriculum. Johnson will be putting his mathematical skills to the ultimate test when he returns to the MathCON National Finals May 5 in Chicago. — Monroe Legacy

Winfield

• A group of fourth and fifth grade students called the “Healthy Wolves” will be cleaning up the town. On April 11, students will be meeting at the school playground at 2 p.m. Organizers Amber and Lennon Scott are hoping for a big turnout from not only the kids, but parents, grandparents and other kids. Scotts are hoping that area businesses will donate trash bags and gloves so the students can safely gather trash and pop cans. — Winfield Beacon/Wayland News