Although it is a sign the school is doing well and attracting more students, the crowded classrooms leave teachers with little time for individual student attention.
By Mollie Vandor/Special to The Malibu Times
A lack of space combined with booming enrollment meant that some Malibu High School students spent the first week back at school sitting on tables, plastic chairs and even the floor in classrooms filled beyond capacity. Despite past promises of smaller classes at Malibu High, this school year began with continued complaints about overcrowded classrooms and overworked teachers.
Senior Katie Linhardt said big classes definitely “make it harder to ask questions and harder to connect. You feel like less of a family than in smaller classes, and it’s definitely harder to communicate.”
History and government teacher Adam Panish said that, although Malibu High’s overpopulation problem is not as bad as it is at some other schools, “classes are still too big, especially in social sciences, and it makes it a little more difficult to control the class and slows things down.”
The problem is even more pronounced for students in younger grades. Seventh grader Simon Ettenger said he feels larger classes “make it hard for teachers to give individual attention and help. I like my math teacher, but I had a question yesterday and it was hard to get the teacher’s attention because she’s always busy with other students. And the class just keeps getting bigger.”
Simon’s mother echoes his sentiments and those of many other parents. Janet Ettenger said that “Simon has 35 or 37 kids in his classes, and that’s a lot. In every class, there’s a wide range of levels and it’s hard for teachers to have so many students and teach so many levels.”
Since it began offering high school classes in 1992, the local school has grown in size and reputation. And, with the completion of a brand new classroom building housing 12 state-of-the-art rooms, many say the school is looking better than ever. But, along with the growth in facilities, came an influx of new students. According to Principal Mike Matthews, “MHS has grown by over 300 percent in the 11 years I have been here.”
From October 2002 to September 2003, enrollment jumped from 1,260 students to approximately 1,320. School administrators say the student-teacher ratio is 31:1, but acknowledge that some classes are overcrowded while others are smaller than average. Principal Matthews concedes that large classes present an educational problem, and says that, at the high school, “Our sixth and eighth grade classes are all quite high. There are between 34 and 36 students in many of these classes. In addition, there are a few classes in the high school that are too high.”
Specifically, Matthews cites trigonometry/pre-calculus, honors chemistry, AP government, and honors geometry as among those classes that are typically large.
Said Matthews, “I am a huge proponent of AP and honors classes, yet I also know that they are supposed to be college-like classes. I would rather have our struggling students get more attention.”
The principal points out that overcrowding can be seen in a positive light. “Over the summer, more families moved in than moved out. I believe that the most significant reason is with the high-test scores and Distinguished School honor we earned last year, we have become an even more attractive option for Malibu families and their children,” Matthews said. “Ask any real estate agent, and they will reaffirm that our elementary, middle and high school programs are bringing in families to our beautiful community.”
Still, the shortage of space has left math teacher Tim Segesman with such large classes that he has brought plastic chairs into his classroom to help accommodate his students-who far outnumber the amount of desks. Segesman worries because, he said, “It’s really hard to have large class sizes because as an educator you want to help people individually, and it’s really hard to get around to all the kids in a large class.”
Senior Tanya Puklus, who has watched class sizes grow “much larger” during the six years she has attended Malibu declared, “I don’t know if it’s anyone’s fault, the important thing is that something has to be done. It can’t stay this way.”
“The only way to fix it is to hire more teachers,” Matthew said. I am confident that we will find solutions that can bring our class sizes down.”