Pleasant Valley Community School District has been rapidly growing for the last 10 years. Their latest elementary school, Hopewell, opened in 2011. In the past decade alone, the district’s dramatic influx in students has led to the development of another necessary elementary.
The district’s proposed solution was the creation of Forest Grove Elementary, 1600 Forest Grove Drive, Bettendorf, IA. The district hopes the new elementary school will address the rapid growth of elementary-aged students and allow them to attend school closer to their neighborhoods. Currently, the students who will one day attend Forest Grove Elementary are spread throughout the district’s other elementaries.
The elementary is being built as a two-section building, with the ability to expand into four-sections at a later date, if needed. Pleasant View, Riverdale Heights, and Hopewell are the only four-section elementary schools in the district.
Forest Grove Elementary construction began in the spring of 2019. “We had quite a stretch of rain that slowed their ability to level or move the ground on the building site,” Superintendent Brian Strusz said. “It was a mild winter and the cold weather did not slow their progress, allowing them to make up time.” The school is projected to be done for the 2021-2022 year.
This last spring, however, when COVID-19 hit the United States, the onset of closed borders and social distancing measures made for a change in operations. “The project manager from Tricon Construction Group emphasized to all contractors on the project the importance of staying safe,” Strusz mentioned. Fortunately, they had no further complications from COVID-19 other than receiving materials from overseas later than anticipated.
Adding this elementary addresses all of the district’s problems, but creates some in the community. Senior Jacob Townsend, who lives off of Forest Grove Drive, where the school is being built, has some concerns. “There’s always trucks and workers going in and out at all times of the day,” Townsend stated. “It’s not ideal for my family because we liked the ‘out of town’ feel.”
Due to expansion of the elementary schools in the district, the junior high and high school may need further additions as well, even though both schools have already had recent additions. “At the high school when we built the first tower on the east side of the school we know we can add three more towers to the east.” Strusz said they continuously monitor the growth in anticipation of more additions.
With a rapidly growing district, Pleasant Valley can only anticipate more students and more expansions in the future.
