Cedar Rapids district seeking feedback from City View families on future of the school

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Cedar Rapids Community School District is seeking input and feedback on the “next best steps” for the recently opened City View Community High School as the district prepares to launch its College & Career Pathways program at other high schools.

In an email to the school’s families last Wednesday, City View Principal Adam Zimmermann invited them to a “parent conversation” to “discuss the future” of the school. The meeting is open only to City View families, not the broader public.

Zimmermann said the intent of the conversations is to gather ideas and input from families on solutions that will improve the school, a project-based magnet school. The school is in its second academic year.

“We’re going to have the conversation of what’s working in this new, innovative school and what’s not,” Zimmermann said in an interview with The Gazette. “This is a positive, healthy conversation around how we improve that program.”

These conversations already have begun with students, Zimmermann said. Students say they value City View’s small, student-centered learning environment and getting to do “relevant work” with community impact, he said.

A challenge the school is experiencing is that its students attend a school in downtown Cedar Rapids where they don’t have opportunities like participating in music, fine arts and athletics readily available. Students still can participate in these activities at the high school in their attendance boundaries — whether that be Kennedy, Jefferson or Washington — but transportation can be a barrier, Zimmermann said.

“We do face recruitment challenges and much of what we’ve heard from students is they’ve had to give up that community and opportunities,” Zimmermann said.

City View opened in fall 2023 as a school students can opt in to regardless of where they live within the Cedar Rapids district. There are about 100 students enrolled at City View this year. Other Cedar Rapids high schools have between 1,300 and 1,700 students each.

City View is located on the first floor of the Metro Economic Alliance, 501 First St. SE. Alliance staff occupy the second floor. While some classes meet in rooms that resemble boardrooms more than traditional classrooms, students mostly use tables in the open-concept office.

Magnet schools like City View offer theme-based learning — such as science, technology, engineering, arts and math; or leadership and entrepreneurship, for instance. At City View, students engage in competency-based learning, a teaching method that can create more personalized learning experiences with students demonstrating their mastery of a subject through evaluations.

Cedar Rapids school board member David Tominsky said City View is an “innovative program” that he sees continuing in the Cedar Rapids Community School District.

It opened as the district’s first magnet high school, giving students in the Cedar Rapids district the opportunity to participate in magnet programming from kindergarten through high school, Tominsky said.

“I think it’s clearly working. We’re seeing a lot of options and changes in education, and we’re making sure to meet students where they’re at and provide the opportunities they’re looking for,” Tominsky said.

Tominsky said he wants the district to continue to offer students smaller learning environments, which can be found at City View. “It’s easy for some students to get lost in a large school,” he said.

Last fall, the school began to offer internships opportunities to students. To get internship-ready, students must score proficient on a “working with others rubric,” Amanda Zhorne, a community partner developer with Metro Economic Alliance working with the school district, told The Gazette in November. They learn about the different generations in the workforce, how to be respectful, how to hold a conversation, how to introduce themselves and give a proper handshake and create a resume.

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“City View was founded on a vision of relationships, competency-based learning and real-world learning through community internships,” Zimmermann said in his email to families. “As we plan for the upcoming launch of the College and Career Pathways program, we are seeking input and feedback on next best steps for City View.”

“Over the past month, we have initiated internal conversations regarding steps to ensure the vision of City View aligns with our … College and Career Pathways model,” Zimmermann said. “Additionally, we have held discussions at each of the comprehensive high schools to gather feedback. We need the City View community to weigh in as well. We are excited for your input, along with your partnership, so we can move forward together.”

College & Career Pathways will launch next fall at Kennedy, Jefferson and Washington high schools with Freshman Academies designed to connect students to smaller learning environments where they can explore their career interests.

Ninth-graders will take core classes in the subjects of math, science, language arts and social studies in addition to a new “freshman seminar” aimed at preparing students for high school and life.

The following school year — 2026-27 — College & Career Pathways will be offered at four high schools, including Metro, which is not typically attended by freshmen. Staff are beginning to work on designing courses for these programs, Superintendent Tawana Grover said.

Comments: (319) 398-8411; grace.king@thegazette.com