Class sizes have dramatically increased as 2,127 students enter the building each day. 

“Every year that I’ve been in the building, I’ve felt more and more crowded,” said senior Karam Weigert.

Weigert has been attending JRHS since their freshman year and has noticed a substantial increase in the average number of students per classroom. 

“I remember in my freshman year, my classes were on average 20 to 25 students maximum. I even took a health class with just 11 kids,” Weigert said. “Now in my senior year, most of my classes are 30 kids or above.”

“It can be hard for some students to focus in a big classroom setting,” said English teacher Joseph Zazo. “It can also be harder for a student to get one-on-one time with a teacher. It can take a little bit more time to build a community and get to know individual students.”

Common issues brought up by students are large classes. Sophomore Ida Steinberg says that in her chemistry class of around 40 people, it’s challenging to connect with her teacher.

“It’s really hard to make sure that you get a teacher’s full attention and they’re not running around the room trying to control everybody,” said Steinberg.

The portable classrooms are a temporary solution to overcrowding, but they could help get teachers into actual classrooms. According to Zazo, some teachers are in temporary teaching spaces, like the library.

“It will be interesting to see how we use them,” said Zazo. “Hopefully we can eliminate teachers that aren’t teaching in an actual classroom setting.” •