Iowa City’s new elementary plans could include specialized academies, paired schools

The Iowa City Community School District (ICCSD) is considering restructuring its current elementary school model, anchored by a desire for smaller class sizes, specialized academies, and new preschool centers.

The local school board – which covers elementary schools in Iowa City, Coralville and North Liberty, held a special work session on Tuesday, July 23, to discuss ways to eliminate inefficiencies within each of the district’s 20 elementary schools and create more consistent class sizes.

The vast, multi-option plan is called “Reenvisioning our elementary schools.”

The work session highlighted areas of concern the school board wanted addressed. They explored five different plans, which included a move to 18-section schools, optimal-size schools, paired schools, academy schools, and preschool centers.  

Superintendent Matt Degner emphasized that the plans discussed Tuesday serve as an introduction and that work is just beginning. The district will gather feedback from the board and the community and decide how to proceed.

“We anticipate like to continue to come back around each of the pieces of this and to hear your feedback and community’s feedback and then continue to just evolve with time,” Degner said. “Tonight (is not) necessarily looking for your opinions or factual statements on these things, but just more information at some level setting for us but get started.”

More: Battery-operated passenger train from Iowa City to North Liberty possible as soon as 2025

Exploring academy schools

The school district proposed a preliminary plan for “academy schools” and how they would benefit the district.

The ICCSD defines an academy school as  “A public school offering special instruction and programs not available elsewhere, designed to attract a more diverse student body from throughout a school district. Students enroll through an application process based on program interest.”

The district has considered developing academy schools several times over the last 18 years. The goal of an elementary academy is to provide a different learning experience for students and their families while also increasing open enrollment. Specialized academies could include performing arts, world languages/language immersion, leadership, and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The academies would create ideal class sizes while maximizing building capacity.

“We feel that the academy schools will be specialized curriculum-focused programs, students that have that interest will be able to go and to be able to explore those in a much richer capacity than they can you’re familiar with the elementary right now,” said Eliza Proctor, Executive Director of Elementary Schools. “There would be diverse learning environments, pulling students from the district, and students and families would feel that they have the choice to enroll in the program and that the teaching methods would be a little bit more innovative.”

Expanding early childhood education

The reenvisioning plan also touched on expanded preschool centers. The district highlighted two options during Tuesday’s meeting − placing preschools inside elementary schools and or building dedicated preschool centers.

The plan suggests offering expanded care within an elementary school, with full-day or part-day options and before- and after-school care. This approach would seamlessly integrate existing programs like “Shared Vision” into the expanded structure.

Dedicated preschool centers would cater specifically to three and four-year-olds, with the potential for extended care before and after school. While locations in Iowa City and North Liberty are being considered, this option could take longer to establish.

More: Cambus adding electric buses, upgrading facility through $16.4M federal grant

Benefits and operational efficiency of 18-section K-5 schools

The board first discussed a plan for 18-section schools at the K-5 level, meaning that each grade level would use three separate sections (essentially classrooms) within the school. This plan would have instructional benefits, including more consistent class sizes, efficient use of staff, and maximized building efficiency. The plan also includes dedicated special teachers, whom ICCSD identifies as educators who teach art, music, and physical education.

“It not only has an impact in terms of what we believe is instructional benefits, it also has operational benefits in terms of standardizing the workload of custodians, our secretaries, and other buildings support staff,” said Deputy Superintendent Chace Ramey. “Instructionally, the 18-section approach will allow us to really maximize our special teachers and allow them to be a part of that entire educational ecosystem in those schools.”

More: Lavender fields forever: Calyx Creek offers flower-filled vacation destination

Enhancing building collaboration with paired schools

The board also discussed “paired schools,” which involves splitting the grade levels between two buildings. One building serves kindergarten through second grade, and the other serves third through fifth.

The board has previously discussed this idea known as “sister schools.”

Data from Mann and Lincoln Elementary schools were analyzed during Tuesday’s work session. Both buildings currently have class sizes averaging between 18 and 19 students, with 21 sections combined.

If the ICCSD adopted the paired school model, there would be nine sections for K-2 in one building and nine sections for grades 3-5 in the other building, totaling 18 sections. The average class size would be 20 or 21 students.

Currently, there are some grades with only one section, which means students and teachers have limited opportunities for peer interaction and collaboration. The paired school model would provide better collaboration among teachers in the same grade level while allowing students to have more peers in their grade, enhancing social opportunities.

Jessica Rish is an entertainment, dining and business reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. She can be reached at JRish@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rishjessica_