Recently, Tahoma students were given a presentation on the changes coming to our district.
Mainly, it revealed that there are a high number of students in middle and high school right now, but the number of incoming kindergarteners is actually dropping.
However, this trend is not exclusive to Tahoma. THS teacher Todd Baker, who teaches about population trends in AP Human Geography, states that school enrollment is dropping “across the country”, due to a low US birth rate.
The effects are more visible at Tahoma, because it is the largest high school in Washington and “will remain the largest in the state for many years to come” despite drops in enrollment, according to Baker.
With such a large school, questions naturally arose on how to deal with the school’s current high population. One proposed solution is grade realignment.
Tahoma administrators have suggested moving 6th grade to elementary and 9th grade to middle school/junior high, provoking varied reactions from staff.
Baker, who also teaches Freshman Success, stated that grade realignment is “a terrible idea”. According to Baker, 9th graders should not be sent to middle school because they would lose access to the diverse clubs and classes offered at Tahoma High School.
THS future ready specialist Lara Lindersmith says that there are “pros and cons” to grade realignment. While the high school would feel less crowded, 9th graders would lose out on certain opportunities.
Speaking of opportunity, the decline in school enrollment can actually create more opportunities for students. According to Lindersmith, the recent drop in enrollment has also affected colleges, meaning that college applications may become less competitive in the coming years.
However, it is not likely that college applications will be massively overhauled (especially for selective colleges, where the application process is very unlikely to change). Lindersmith stated that despite the changes coming to schools in the United States, it is important to note that “Colleges really want to see students take advantage of the opportunities available to them”.
