6. School Sizes – Average of 350 Students per School
Primary schools should generally aim to have 350 students enrolled on each campus with a maximum number of between 500-600 students. A small upward trend for the higher grade schools (middle and high schools) would be acceptable. More students than this would tend to result in greater attitude and social behavior problems, feelings of alienation among students, and loss of community feelings as both students and staff would tend to develop impersonal or distant feelings between each other. Also, large student populations tend to foster a sense of chaos and carelessness among students. Larger populations increase the chances that multiple ‘bad’ students will find each other and form persistent groups unified by their common rebellion. These ‘bad’ students, discussing and planning among themselves, often causes problems for the rest of the students and staff, problems that may not have been as pronounced had a smaller school size reduced the chances that this ‘bad’ group of students would have formed.