Many people choose Palos Verdes High School because it’s the smaller of the two on the Peninsula, with Pen historically taking about 60% of PVPUSD students and PV taking about 40% of students. But what happens when an overly large freshman class decides to enroll at PV?
Just ask the Class of 2028 who arrived on campus in August. They’re one of the largest in recent memory, and now the PVPUSD enrollment is split nearly 50/50 between both schools.
This year’s arriving first-year Class of 2028 boasts 433 students. That’s 95 more than the smallest class on campus, the seniors, who only have 339. But what causes such a change in size?
“Palos Verdes has a lot to offer. Our welcoming environment, respected athletics, and our recent academic successes make PV a school people just want to come to,” Link Crew advisor Allyson Klabe said.
This “wanting”, while positive in some ways, also has some drawbacks.
“Typically it’s 170 [students] that our contract per our union says is the max that teachers can have,” biology teacher Julie Maemoto said.
“I believe I’m at 173 or 174 [students] right now, so that’s huge. I have 35 students in every class except for one right now, which is huge for a science class.”
The increased class size isn’t just demanding. According to Maemoto, it can cause safety concerns.
“There’s a huge safety issue. I have to get more materials per table and they’re in a really tight space.”
She described how in one recent class the students were “working with hot plates and chemicals and test tubes and [she could] barely get to each table with five students at each” because she was “jumping over backpacks… everywhere.”
Larger enrollment and larger class sizes bring up some issues.
“I think having those large class sizes really puts those kids at a disadvantage.”
The silver lining? “I get to interact with more students than ever before” which allows her to experience “more and more student success.”
Students also have been feeling the effects.
“We had to get more desks because there weren’t enough for all the students,” freshman Emma Shapiro said.
She also said that the large enrollment made getting into the classes more difficult than it should be and that it can be harder for teachers to “get control over [students].”
But, it’s not only packed classrooms and stressed teachers, according to Shapiro.
In fact, the benefits may outweigh the costs. “I feel like it’s manageable honestly,” Shapiro said.
The big class size does have one major benefit.
“It’s just a lot easier to make friends, because there are a lot more people that could be interested in the same things as you.”
Another effect of this year’s oversized freshman class lies in sports.
“There are a lot of kids trying to make teams this year, which puts a lot of pressure on us,” sophomore Dylan Sides said.
Rosters are coming out soon for some teams and “because there are so many players…the teams will be good this year, and…the coaches will pick the best players to make the best teams.”
Like it or not, the supersize frosh class is here to stay.
Whether the trend continues and PV starts to look a lot more like its bigger cousin on the hill remains to be seen.
The community will just have to wait until next year to find out.