Small Schools vs. Big Schools

I go to Kennedy high school where I have 528 people in my junior class and over 2000 people in my entire school. My boyfriend goes to a small town school where he only has 48 people in his junior class. As you can see there is a huge difference between the two and I’d like to point out the negative and positive effects it can have on students.

First the positive effects of a big school. In a big school there are many more people so students are able to converse with very diverse people. Students can make many friends throughout the years. Big schools are also more known to push their students to do their best and try AP classes. There are many different opportunities for bigger schools like more sports, different clubs, exciting and enriching learning opportunities. Like at my school we have many opportunities to travel around the world. Students can go to Spain or Puerto Rico, go abroad to any country for a study abroad or go to England for 2 weeks which is what I am doing this summer. There are so many more opportunities for students in a larger school.

There are also many negative effects of a big school. In my school it is very crowded and walking through the halls is insane. People get pushed and squished and yelled at. There are also so many people that teachers cannot focus enough attention on each student so some may not get enough help. It all comes down to the fact that there may be way too many people in big schools. Students could go their entire high school career and still find new faces in the halls. We cannot focus enough on the students if there are so many of them.

I am not saying small schools are the best but there are many positives effects of them. In small schools there are far less people so it is not crowded. There is also a better student-teacher relationship so they get more attention with their grades. In small schools, everyone knows everyone so teachers and staff are able to understand students’ habits/learning needs. Teachers are able to take care of their students more when there are less of them.

Although small schools seem great there are a lot of downsides. The school does not offer enough opportunities for learning so many students could get bored and turn to other things like drugs and alcohol. Also, since everyone knows everyone, they all know exactly what happens to each other. There is no such thing as privacy in a small town. Gossip will spread faster than a wildfire.

So there are good sides and down sides to small schools and big schools. It all depends on how you grow up. If you are in a big school (like me) you tend to have a bias towards big schools. It is the same with small schools. All in all it is your decision on which you prefer.