It’s so stressful when you feel like all eyes are on you. When there are too many people and too much commotion, it can be a bit hectic. Larger class sizes are becoming the norm at DGS, and it’s becoming a problem; therefore, Blueprint is collectively advocating for smaller class sizes.

There are 2,637 students attending the school currently, and many have experienced being in an overcrowded class. However, some classes are the other extreme: tiny.

There are a number of reasons for the differing class sizes, such as budget, staffing, intervention classes and more. The 2024-2025 school year budget was $405,514 less than the previous year. The administrators and school board need to fix this hectic problem as soon as possible.

The pros to having small class sizes can be pretty significant to a student. Help is more accessible since there’s less students competing for time. A student can get more specific help from a teacher if they’re struggling with a topic.

However, this help is hard to come across more recently with the inflated class sizes.

Overcrowded classes make the learning environment feel stuffy. If there are too many students in a room, it can feel congested, or create a tense environment. As a result, this stresses some students out and makes it harder for them to learn.

Especially if the other students are chatty. That can make retaining information difficult for others. Smaller classes have more quiet environments, and students can really focus on their studies.

Receiving feedback from assignments is also something that benefits from the small class sizes. Less students equals less time it takes the teachers to grade. Students get their work back sooner, meaning they can review their work for improvement.

There’s also more freedom of where a student can sit in a classroom with smaller classes. More available seats means more control over where a student chooses to sit that’s best for their learning style. In big classes, there’s less seats students have the option for, and being surrounded by others can make someone feel on edge.

Yes, some people have small classes, but for the majority of the students, we experience larger class sizes that make learning more difficult than it should be.

Administration, your students need your help. This is an issue that is preventing our learning. We here at Blueprint recommend finding creative ways to hire more teachers, decrease large class sizes and watch the students learn and blossom.