As Pleasant Valley continues to run on a 7-class schedule, other schools in the area, primarily Davenport schools, shift from block schedules to join Pleasant Valley in a 7-class day, attempting to cut costs in their budget.
In a standard 7-class schedule, students’ schedules are full, requiring them to be at school from 8:10- 2:45 pm. During this time, teachers are given one of these periods off to utilize as a prep period and catch up on grading or lesson plans that might need to be done in order to keep their classroom and students organized.
Schools in the surrounding areas, such as Bettendorf and Davenport Central, utilize a block schedule with 4 classes a day, each averaging about 90 mins in length. In order for teachers to keep up with grading, scheduling includes a prep period. However, this puts a financial burden onto these schools.
Due to teachers needing a class off, schools that run a block schedule require one more teacher per every student increasing the ratio of students to teachers, as compared to a school running a 7-class schedule. This increases the school’s budget and potentially puts more financial strain on districts.
As PVHS continues to use its 7-class schedule, the Davenport Community School District issued a new schedule system to start in the 2025-2026 school year which is more cost effective and gives the school board hopes to increase the graduation rate.
Davenport Central sophomore Carter Bass, worries about next school year once the new schedule has been implemented. “My biggest worry starting the new school year is the amount of classes I have to worry about because not only do I have 7 classes per term but now I have less time to do work in those classes. So compared to now when I usually have time to do work in class I can’t and I am adding four more classes,” Bass said.
Back at PVHS, students continue to take 7 classes a day leading to finals. This increases the amount of work students need to do in order to be prepared to take exams. Junior Juha Kim remembers feeling a desire to have block scheduling approaching finals. “I think a block schedule would be a lot nicer because then I wouldn’t have to worry about certain subjects on certain days. I wouldn’t say my amount of studying would decrease, it’s just that I would be able to spread my studying out into more days of the week rather than cramming,” stated Kim.
High Schoolers are traditionally involved in many different groups and activities and for Bass it is no different. “I was a little annoyed when they announced the change because I really liked block scheduling and really thought it was good for students involved in multiple musical ensembles allowing them to be enrolled in three groups in the same block,” explained Bass.
With students’ busy schedules, it often gets hard for districts to find a way that balances students’ lifestyles while also making it affordable for the districts. The battle for finding the perfect schedule for students continues as districts make changes and adapt to what the students require the most.
