AMES — The Ames School Board has voted unanimously to leave the Iowa Alliance Conference and join the Little Hawkeye Conference beginning in the 2026-27 school year.
The Little Hawkeye Conference membership will grow to eight once Ames officially becomes a member, joining Dallas Center-Grimes, Indianola, Newton, Norwalk, Oskaloosa, Pella and Pella Christian.
The Little Hawkeye Conference has a goal of expanding the conference to ten schools and dividing it into divisions. Earlier this school year,
Urbandale on a split vote turned down an invitation to the conference and will stay in the Central Iowa Metro League. Other schools that have declined invitations include Knoxville, PCM, and Van Meter.
Ames departure would shrink the number of schools in the Alliance Conference to ten, including Mason City.
