In 2026, Elkhorn North will move to Class A, meaning its attendance will hit more than 1,000 kids. The size of the school defines student life. Most of the talk around big vs. small schools is what they offer academically, but there should be more focus on their impact on community and individuals.
In a bigger school, opinions get blended. Peoples’ thoughts and opinions get lost in the amount of voices there are, that’s why bigger schools tend to go against individuality. Everyone just tries to fit in. In a smaller school, students have the chance to be heard which creates a sense of unity.
“Those spaces in small schools provide smaller and more intimate connections,” English teacher Amber Sims said. Sims taught in Arlington for eight years which has a population of less than 350 students.
Another aspect of a larger school is that students generally only talk to the people in their friend groups because it is harder to expand out of them.
“At some other schools they have one big friend group that hangs out with each other and we have six different ones that sometimes hangout together but mostly just stay in their group,” junior Sydney Kruse said.
When there are dozens of different circles, it becomes easier for students to stay where they already fit instead of branching out. People tend to know their group well but rarely interact with others unless they have to. This limits people’s ability to understand perspectives outside of their own group.
“There’s more circles here, there is an inner group then an outer group and then a big outer group and in other school districts I would say there’s less groups of people,” senior Sai Smaran Araveti said.
Personalities change when put into a situation with more people around. In a big school people become less approachable, they get stuck in their ways of only speaking to the same couple of people and don’t feel the need to venture out. It’s easy to stick to the same seclusion of faces.
“There is a hesitancy in a big school to reach out because we don’t know if somebody is new or if they’re going through anything so we just assume everyone is fine or they have friends,” Sims said. ”But if you don’t have friends it is easy to come to school and then go home and feel like this is an isolating place.”
In a small school, the atmosphere is completely different. A smaller school is more intimate and welcoming and it invites students to be more open.
“People knew each other more intimately because everyone had gone to school together since they were young and not a lot of people had moved in and out,” Sims said.
Staying connected in a big school also becomes a major problem. With how much is going on, plus the amount of kids, students are often left out of the loop.
“I feel like a lot of us are connected, just some more than others,” Kruse said.
If students don’t start getting out of their comfort zone the school may slowly divide.
“If people are willing to put themselves out there and join a club, talk to the person next to them, or lower their own idea that people don’t want to talk to them, then Elkhorn North, or any big school, can be a welcoming place,” Sims said.
