Clarke Central High School students leave their seventh period classes on Sept. 26. The new school year has brought an increase in student-body population, which can make navigating the hallways more difficult for students. “The hallways are pretty crowded, especially on the second floor. There’s definitely a lot more people in the school than there used to be,” junior Jack Fischer said. Photo by Ana Aldridge
Clarke Central High School students and staff adjust to the recent increase in student body population.
According to Clarke Central High School Assistant Principal Reginald Thomas, CCHS student body population is at an all-time high this school year.
“Each year, it seems like our numbers have been increasing, as far as student body population, and this year, we are hovering right around 1,800 kids,” Thomas said. “That’s a lot more than we’ve had in the past.”
Principal Dr. Swade Huff says that some of the new students are coming from private schools.
“Just having some informal conversations with (School Resource Officer Jamal Chambers) yesterday and a couple of our counselors, there’s been an increase of our private students returning back to public education,” Huff said. “I know there’s a lot of opportunities, academic and athletic opportunities, so those may be two factors, but I really can’t answer as to what’s the single reason our enrollment numbers are up.”
Huff is glad to see former private school students who left the Clarke County School District returning this school year.
“I do know we had 15 or 20 private school (students enrolling at CCHS) towards this summer when I first began July 2, and it was a great feeling because you lose a lot of kids, for whatever reason, in the middle school years, and hopefully, we can make some decisions, create the climate, give kids the opportunity to learn, involve our parents, and welcome back some of those kids that were in private school,” Huff said.
For science department chair Valinda Miller, the increase of students in her classroom has been palpable.
“My biggest class is 33 (students). We feel the stress with having the additional students with just, you know, making sure that we’re able to service all of them and make sure that they get the individualized attention that they do,” Miller said. “It is a little more exhausting to stay on top of that many students academically and behaviorally.”
Assistant Principal Sheila Dunham feels that crowded classrooms can be hard on some students.
“Sometimes, students don’t thrive in a large setting. I mean, Clarke Central has about 1,800 students now, and when you get to talking with some students, you find out that they really want a smaller setting,” Dunham said.
Miller believes that increasing teaching staff would benefit students and teachers.
“If there was a way for us to just get more teachers, that by itself can alleviate a lot of the numbers. Just by having that bio teacher that’s teaching two classes, instead of me teaching 36 in each class, I got 32,” Miller said. “It doesn’t seem like a lot, but it does make a huge difference.”
Assistant Principal Sheila Dunham says that the Administrative Team prepared for the increase of students prior to this school year.
“We did have some additional staff hired, of course. That actually happened last school year at the end. We found out we were gonna get some new additions to the faculty. We got an (agriculture) and graphic arts and some core teachers as well,” Dunham said. “We did order new furniture, because when school opens, you want everyone to have a place to sit. So we did order 150 more student desks.”
Despite the efforts of the Administrative Team, Aiden Fell feels a more drastic solution is needed.
“I noticed when I first came here, I think it was only like 1500 people, and then it’s gone up. (The CCSD doesn’t) have enough (Personal Learning Device) chargers for people. I think they should just build another high school,” Fell said.
The CCSD is also hiring a new assistant principal to alleviate the stress of increased students on the Administrative Team.
“Based on the amount of students, we had the district felt like it was necessary to honor our request that we have an additional administrator,” Thomas said. “It’s purely based on the fact that the student body population has expanded so much in the recent years.”
