Infuriating, confusing, aggravating, and vexing are just some of the emotions brought to mind by Jackson-Reed’s current dilemma—overcrowding. 

For years, Jackson-Reed has had a relatively high ratio of students to teachers and more students than the school was originally intended to hold. In 2021, Jackson-Reed had a student population of over 1,900, which is 200-300 students over capacity, and since then the population has only continued to rise. As the district’s largest high school, it’s expected to be busy. However, when this overcrowding starts to impede the school’s ability to function properly it evolves from a slight inconvenience to a severe issue that needs immediate attention. 

Students, teachers, and staff alike recognize the severity of the issue and how dysfunction in the school can ensue. Physics teacher Christopher Martineau thinks, “student engagement and learning is jeopardized as the number of students in one class is overcapacity. The only solution is to build another school or expand”. The school has tried to compensate for this by steadily hiring more teachers, however, the continuous increase in incoming freshmen is outpacing the increase in teachers. There’s the problem of space; the school can hire as many teachers as they want, but without an actual expansion of space, the problem will never truly be resolved. 

Sadly, our problems don’t end there. As many of you may know, counselors are, to put it lightly, really busy. Trying to speak with your counselor—something that shouldn’t be particularly difficult—has become an unwanted challenge for kids of all grade levels. Students are stuck in overcrowded classes that they didn’t sign up for and seniors preparing for their next life steps can’t get the attention they deserve. 

Many questions now arise. Why hasn’t the school done more to address the problem? Can the school even do more? Answering these questions isn’t as simple as one might think. The only true solution to the overcrowding problem is to either limit the number of new freshmen every year (which presents problems of its own) or to build another school along with an expansion, as Martineau suggested. Building another school is feasible, however, funding is always an issue, and it would take time for the new school to be operational. For now, expansion is seemingly the best solution—although it doesn’t solve the root of the problem, it would decrease the disarray and congestion felt at Jackson-Reed. •