At Pleasant Valley, students are constantly pressured to be the best—even the school motto reminds us the district is “committed to excellence.”
That pressure doesn’t appear to be as present throughout other school districts in the area. This fact causes some students to feel that PV is pushing them too hard. Those students are not always happy with the intense education they are receiving.
Usnews.com says, based on their performance on state-required tests and college readiness, Pleasant Valley is ranked number 2,435 out of 20,548 nationally and number 12 out of 335 in the state of Iowa. That report classifies Pleasant Valley as a “silver medal school,” which comes with a lot of pressure. Some students take that pressure very seriously. They take all AP and honors classes, strive for all A’s and participate in as many extracurriculars as they can. These pressures can sometimes be overwhelming for students and cause a lot of stress, but some may see the stress as a good thing.
With college being right around the corner, the faculty at PV is very concerned with preparing their students for this next step in their lives. Teachers distribute large work loads on students with high aspirations for its quality. Grading of schoolwork is also taken very seriously, and intense disciplinary actions are usually taken if students fail to meet PV’s expectations.
Melissa Lechtenberg, a french teacher at PV, has taught at two other high schools before joining the Pleasant Valley staff. Since Lechtenberg has been at PV, she has noticed that PV’s curriculum is a little more challenging than other schools. Lechtenberg said, “I believe that students feel increasing pressure to achieve higher and higher goals, whether in the classroom or in their activities. Stress seems to be a daily struggle for most high school students.”
With PV having such demanding programs, it is hard to see that there really are benefits. Lechtenberg also discussed these benefits when she said, “The students that I have touched base with since going to college report feeling very well prepared for the university setting. They are thankful that PV had such a rigorous curriculum, that at times, seemed even harder than their current college courses.”
Graduated students agree with Lechtenberg. Ben Piotter, a freshman at Iowa State University, graduated from Pleasant Valley in 2018. In regards to his thoughts on PV’s difficulty, Piotter said, “Just from talking to people from other schools, you can tell that PV is tougher. College is obviously a bit harder, but it isn’t as hard as I thought it would be, and that’s a credit to PV.”
Piotter also talked about his thoughts on how PV prepared him for college, now that he is able to compare himself to other students. Piotter said, “Nothing in highschool can 100% prepare you for college just because it is a lot different. However, I think PV did well at what they could prepare me for and in comparison to people I know from other schools, I was definitely better prepared.”
Though school might be hard now and students may feel very stressed, it might be worth it in the long run. Learning how to balance class work and manage stress is a great life lesson that is better learned young. The difficulty here at PV might be just what students need if they are planning on furthering their education after high school.
