Replies to '11/24 Great School Debate'

The "bigger" is better philosophy really doesn't stem from best teaching practices. There are, from what I can see, three main reasons for bigger schools.

1 - MONEY. It is cheaper to buy land and construct one building or campus than several small schools on different sites.

2 - sports - this is especially true in high school. The more kids you have the more sports programs you can offer and the better the sports teams tend to be.

3 - diversity of electives. Most public schools are funded on a per pupil basis. The more students, the more funding available to offer electives like advanced computer science, foreign languages, etc.

Many parents WANT the sports teams, clubs, special electives, etc. The bigger school is the price they pay to get those things.

As far as sizes of schools are concerned I would agree that in the classroom less is more, but I have  evolved in how I feel about the size of the school itself. Having homeschooled 7 years prior to my son choosing to go to high school I believed that if we had to be in school small would be my first choice, but as I interviewed friends and family that changed. In a small or VERY small school you either fit in or you don't. You may have only one or two classes per grade and that intimate a setting may not be best for a growing mind and ego. I actually found to my surprise that the population of 1600 in the high school my son attends makes more sense to us. There are 30 plus clubs alone to suit any and all interests and if it doesn't exist someone will start one. Not only do they have them, but everyone is required to find one through a process aof regular trial days till you find what fits. You meet people you may have otherwise not known in your day to day schedule. I was pleased for this program and know that in the smaller schools this is either not offered or limited.

Also Bullying exists at all school levels, but it sure hurts more in a small setting if you don't have many allies.