We have 3400 in our one county high school. So do many counties around here. I think a lot depends on how the buildings are set up .
Our halls are joined only at each end from a horizontal walkway- and can be locked down individually.
The 9th graders are in a different building completely - joined to 10-12 by an enormous weight room.
We have an Ombudsman program off site: which caters to both the kids who work, and the ones with disciplinary problems.
We are located by a nuclear sub base- and federal security agents designed the security for this school.
We have 2 full time LE officers who work at the school.
Two or three high schools in a rural county are simply cost prohibitive- so they do what they can in terms of protecting the kids.
That sounds like a great set-up - security wise BUT its just not security that has to be taken into consideration when setting up such huge schools.
Let me explain:
With a population of 3400 - 5000 :
what chance does any one given child have of, let's say -
making the cheerleading squad (unless you have exceptional talents)
making the football, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball teams
getting any academic recognition (unless you carry a 4.0 - or higher now)
all student council elections would be completely popularity contests, instead of.....
making the yearbook staff
making the newspaper staff
feeling like you "belong" - when there are 3399 other kids around?
High school populations this big, in MY OPINION, tend to harbor, create, condone, ignore (pick your word)
cliques which in turn lead to ostracizing, judging, and even bullying others.
Its just not good practice. Every student needs to feel like he/she belongs, is valued, has a purpose, has a face and a name.
Schools this big can't possibly accommodate this.
One thing I have to ask - does this school have a place big enough to host a "parent gathering" of all the school's population? IOW can they have a program, assembly, PTA meeting, and invite the entire parent population, instead of doing it by grade group?
Our kids - ALL our kids need to be nurtured and paid attention to - not just cattle herded into buildings where they feel they don't have a voice, a face or even a name.
JMHO
