Iowa City schools considering ‘pairing’ elementary buildings

IOWA CITY — Iowa City education leaders are considering a new school model called “pairing” that could create more equitable opportunities for students, more consistent class sizes and offer a more efficient use of teachers and staff.

Pairing is where younger elementary students go to one campus and older elementary students would go to another campus. In Iowa City’s case, the district is exploring creating a school that serve K-2 paired with a school that serves 3rd-5th grade.

The first two elementary schools could transition to this model as early as fall 2025, Eliza Proctor, Iowa City schools’ executive director of elementary schools, said during a school board work session Tuesday.

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“This isn’t just about cost savings. It’s about trying to elevate and improve our school experience,” Superintendent Matt Degner said. “A community commenter tonight talked about the frustration of having class sizes of 30 or more. Every fall we get this concern. How can that be addressed with some of these solutions?”

Schools with more sections of a single grade level operate more efficiently because there are more classrooms of the same grade to divide students between.

Having only one section of a grade level in a school building also can isolate teachers who don’t have peers to bounce ideas off and help them problem solve. By pairing schools, there are more teachers who each teach the same grade level to support and advise each other.

The Iowa City Community School District has 20 elementary schools that range in the number of students they serve from about 170 to 630. The class size in each school also varies drastically, from between 14 to 32 students per classroom.

Pairing schools would reduce the number of classrooms in each school from 21 to 18 and create more balanced class sizes across all grade levels for 400 students per school. This also would reduce the number of elementary schools needed to 16 buildings, with the goal of the average class size being 22 students.

School officials also are considering implementing an academy structure for some elementary schools, offering special instruction and programs not available elsewhere and designed to attract a more diverse student body from throughout the district. Students could enroll in these programs through an application process based on program interest, according to board documents.

Examples of what academies Iowa City schools might be interested in include performing arts, world languages or language immersion, leadership and science, technology, engineering and math.

Academies would provide students and families with more choice in their education and support innovative teaching methods, according to board documents.

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“We’re excited about that, but we want to make sure we take the time to figure out what the community wants and draw on excitement from our families,” Proctor said.

Preschool centers dedicated to early childhood education serving 3- and 4-year-olds also is something the district is considering. Transitioning to 18-section schools would open up some elementary buildings to be repurposed as centralized preschool centers.

These centers could be located in Iowa City, Coralville and North Liberty and operate hours beyond the traditional school day to support working families.

School officials are proposing a three-year implementation of the pairing plan that also would include an in-depth exploration of academy schools and gathering input from the community.

If the plan moves forward, school officials this year would determine which east side schools would be best to pair for the 2025-26 school year. Another elementary school would be determined to serve as an early childhood center.

During the 2025-26 school year, an elementary school on the east side of the district would be repurposed and renovated as an early childhood center. Other elementary schools would be selected and prepared for academies.

During the 2026-27 school year, two selected elementary schools would open as academy schools, beginning with K-2nd grade and adding a grade level each year.

The Iowa City school board has had two discussions about pairing schools and creating academies and preschool centers during work sessions this summer. School administrators hope to bring the discussion to the next regular school board meeting next month.

“It’s ambitious, but we hear concerns from parents saying we have to do something about class sizes. We can’t wait,” school board member Jayne Finch said Tuesday.

There are some school districts across Iowa using the pairing model.

Clear Creek Amana Community School District, which neighbors Iowa City, has schools that serve K-1st grade, PK-4th grade, K-3rd grade and 4th-5th grade.

The College Community School District has schools that serve K-4th grade, 5th-6th grade and 7th-8th grade.

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