Walking into to class on the first day of school might have been a shock, when there only seemed to be about fifteen other students.Many of us have discovered a major difference in our class sizes. Classes that usually have about twenty students now have numbers close to forty while some classes have fewer than fifteen students. Now that students have had a few weeks to experience these new styles of classes, some were surprised about the impact of a smaller class size.

“I feel a lot more open, and I can express what I have to say when I am in a smaller class,” said senior Mary Freeman, who is in an Honors Government class with fifteen other students. “I also like that teachers are able to spend more time with their students.”

Instead of having to spend time after school to get extra help, students get the one-on-one time they need during class. Other students have found it has been easier to work together as a class and learn from one another.

“We get called on more to speak and we are interacting with each other more now that the class is smaller,” said sophomore Katarina Naworol.

Students are not the only ones who were enjoying the smaller class sizes; teachers have been enjoying it too.

“I am able to have more one-on-one time with my students and they seem to be learning better” said German teacher Christopher Trimble. Teachers have the ability now to work with individual students if they need extra help.

There is a flip side, however, to the class-size coin. Some classes are really small, while there are also oversized classes with over thirty students. There is no perfect solution.

“The administrators make teachers choose between combined classes or [small or large] classes,” said Trimble. If the teachers do not choose, administrators choose for them. Most teachers choose either small or large classes because the combined classes are too hard to teach. Having two different classes, taught in the same classroom, at the same time, is too complicated.

No matter what the class size situation is, the most important thing is that students are in the best learning environment possible. Some may think that they learn better with a large class, while others feel like smaller class sizes are the way to go.

“Smaller class sizes offer students a better learning environment and it also helps to create better relationships with peers,” said Naworol.