Top 10 Things You Will Notice About Small High Schools
When it comes to high schools, every school is going to be a different experience. Some teens may go to a large high school while others go to a small high school. Some schools may have block schedules, while others don't (or only use them during semester finals).When I say small high schools, I'm referring to high schools with a student population of less than 1,000 students and not necessarily the size of the campus. In fact, the average high school in the United States has around 850 students, so odds are, you likely go to/have went to/will go to a small high school.
In this list, I will be focusing on the things that you'll mostly notice in small high schools. I know I should probably be working on my 3 school projects right now, but I've decided to work on this instead.
With the exception of my gym class, my classes seem to have a below average to an average number of students in them, with the smallest class being my 3rd period world history class with only 13 students. A small school usually means less students and more empty desks (although my gym teacher's 5th period is jam packed with students).
Wow, that's a thing I surely didn't notice!
Yes, it depends on the high school you go to, but most of the time, it's pretty easy to figure out where you're going.
For example, if someone finds out you have a crush on someone during 1st period, everyone will know about it by lunch. That's how fast gossip spreads around smaller high schools.
Depending on the size of your school's parking lot, there may be some empty parking spaces in the parking lot of the school. This can be an advantage if you drive to school since this means there will be a spot for you to park your car even if you arrive late.
This also depends on how the high school itself is organized. I went to two different "high schools" in my town here in Sweden. One was smaller, but far more compact and no one really cared about anyone. The other one was actually the largest in my entire town, but because of how the school was organized, you were noticed more easily and had an easier time getting new friends.
Especially if you have a very distinct appearance like me. Even if some people don't know your name, they'll recognize you by the way you look. Hell, even the principal knows who I am despite only seeing each other once or twice.
This is probably the most unexpected difference for me it didn't occur to me at all that a larger school would have more lunch periods. My school met your definition of a small high school and had 2.
I always get kinda shocked when I hear about high schools that have 3 lunch periods instead of 1. I get that large high schools need several lunch periods due to the amount of students, but I find that having only 1 is convenient, plus my friends and I can all meet up at the same time (between 12:17 - 12:47 p.m.). Also, having only 1 lunch period feels normal to me.
When you're in a small high school like me, odds are, your friend group will have a mix of freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. In many large high schools, you may only be friends with people in your grade, especially if grades are separated in certain areas on campus inside the school.
My world history class only has 13 students, which not only means that it's smaller than average, but also, my teacher is better able to help students with their work as a result of the small class with a bunch of empty desks.
It may actually be better for learning if you're in a smaller class
Smaller schools tend to have less electives and clubs than larger schools for a variety of reasons such as teacher shortages, not enough funding, not enough demand for an elective/club, or a combination of these factors.
No explanation needed here. My graduating class (class of 2024) has maybe 200 students or so. It's not as small as it may be at some other schools out there, but it's still pretty small when you think about it.
You will start to notice it is a lot quieter in break times if you are from a large one
Small schools are usually underfunded, so when your school gets anything new, it's huge news to everyone. In fact, my school just got new Windows 10 computers in February 2022, which replaced the old (and awesome) Windows 7 computers.