There is a misconception that the number 15 is the required amount of students a class needs to run. In reality, there are a number of other factors that go into deciding which classes run each year.
“We do not have an arbitrary number,” Principal Alexandria Rios Taylor said. The 15 student number requirement “does not exist,” Taylor clarified.
“I do all of our sectioning based on our school values, our district values, and our strategic plan. Our strategic plan emphasizes access and opportunity for students as well as rigor,” Taylor said.
However, Taylor mentioned that she does value “class enrollment metrics,” meaning that it is preferable for a class to have at least 15 students enrolled in it.
English classes and electives serve as an example of classes that do not fit the preferable metrics for enrollment, in other words, not enough students signed up for the classes. English Department Chair Diane Covert said, “Latino literature did not run [this year]. In the past, we had another media elective and an Intro to Journalism class, but there weren’t enough kids who wanted to take them.” Additionally, Science Fiction Fantasy did not run this year.
“I think we could promote them more to students. If [students] know what they’re about, they may be more willing to take them,” Covert said. She believes that students, mainly upperclassmen, consider how a class could benefit their GPA when deciding what to take. “I think that the classes that offer honors and AP credit seem to be more popular. There [is pressure about] getting into college,” she added.
In addition to the English department, the department of Fine Arts also struggled with gaining student participation in some classes this year. The struggle caused administrators to make changes to the classes, specifically, the theater classes. Director of Theater, Jonathan Meier, said that the theater classes are running this year but “not in their intended form. There were some negotiations that went on, and [they] ended up running all the classes, but in a reduced format. In other words, Technical Theater is a one-year class. It’s running one semester this year. Theater Studio is a one-year class. It’s running one semester this year.”
Meier explained the lack of student participation in the theater classes. He shared that the majority of his students are ones that are also involved in classes for band and choir, thus limiting their ability to take up another fine arts class in their schedule.
“I really want to keep Theatre Studio a full-year class because that class, in particular, is a serious college prep class. [For any student who plans on studying theater in college], in order to be competitive in the audition process to get into college and then to be ready for the rigors of a college theater program, Theatre Studio really needs to run for a full year. We had to cut that down [this year],” Meier added.
Relating to the Theater Studio class, Meier stressed the importance of a small class size. “Even though it’s a small number of students, [Meier did not reveal how many students are currently in the class] it is a critical class for those students,” he said.
Regarding classes that typically have minimal student enrollment, Taylor said how she resorts back to evaluating whether or not that class fits with MHS’s core values such as preparing students for their future careers.
“We know that there are some classes that have to run [such as] an internship class. It might have 11 students, but those students are in a second route for our education pathway so we might need to run that class even if it is low,” Taylor said, “Theater [this year] was very low and we still ran it because of the enormous success that we saw in our theater program last year.”
However, Taylor also mentioned that there needs to be a balance between sections. This guarantees that students can have access to a wide range of classes.
For instance, Taylor said how administrators closed an art class this year because there was so much student enrollment, and they wanted to make sure that those students also take other electives. “Ultimately we have to make sure that we are allowing growth for all students [even if it goes against a specific interest],” said Taylor.
Along with one less art class, AP Music Theory also did not run this year. Fine & Applied Arts Department Chair Rich Stiles said the reason why AP Music Theory did not run was because “all of our teachers have full-time workloads at the moment and adding an additional course would overload the schedule that is best practice for our staff.” Stiles hopes that the class will run next year.
“AP Theory prepares future music majors for their college level entry exams and is a critical component of their preparation for said programs,” said Stiles.
Social Studies and World Language Department Chair Chris Lagioia said certain language classes struggle to gain student support as well. Specifically, AP French very rarely runs. However, there are other factors that affect student enrollment for AP French.
“MHS currently offers AP Spanish and AP French. Usually, AP French does not run because students start in level 1 when they enter MHS and finish in level 4 their senior year. They would need another year of school to get to the AP level. This is not the case for students taking Spanish. Many students take Spanish in middle school. This allows them to start in level two when they enter MHS and finish with the AP Spanish course their senior year. Unfortunately, French is not offered in any of the middle schools that send students to MHS,” said Lagioia.
It seems that even if classes from all different departments struggle to consistently run, promotion of these classes could help educate students and create excitement. But ultimately, there is so much more than just student enrollment that decides whether or not a class runs.
Since the 15 number student requirement is non-existent, there is more leeway for students to help a class re-emerge for next year due to the holistic criteria. Taylor advises students to talk to department chairs and plead their case on why a certain class should run.
