The student news site of St. Teresa's Academy

DartNewsOnline

Breaking News
The student news site of St. Teresa's Academy

DartNewsOnline

The student news site of St. Teresa's Academy

DartNewsOnline

Dart News

Students take small classes, retain focus

STA offers singleton classes, students build relationships with teachers, classmates | by KATHLEEN HOUGH

A student entered Mr. Mike Egner’s college western civilization I class on her first day of
school and noticed something unusual: there seemed to be more Royals baseball bobble
heads in the classroom than students.

Over the years, STA has provided many “singleton” courses–classes that only have
one available meeting time per day. This year, STA has seen the smallest numbers of
students enrolled in these classes, academic scheduler Kathy Walters said.

STA is able to have singleton classes because it has a small student body and uses
modular scheduling. The STA administration believes these singleton classes should be
offered despite the small number of students registered.  Senior Maggie Dunn is one of
four students enrolled in her western civilization class this year.

“[Being in a smaller class] is a lot different from being in a larger class,” Dunn
said. “You don’t have to raise your hand, you can just talk out when you want and ask
questions when you want to.”

According to Walters, STA has 16 singleton classes this year; seven of which are
college courses. These courses include classes such a western civilizations I and II,
college composition, AP biology, Spanish IV, Latin III, and Latin IV. Over half of the
singletons contain under 10 students.

“We have singletons in the schedule because we need to have a variety of courses for
all students’ interests,” Walters said. “In each scheduling year, students interests vary, so
one year we could have one section of a class, but the next year we might have two or
three because more students want to take it.”

The smallest number of students in a singleton occurs in intermediate dance, where
only two students are enrolled: juniors Alexa Fowlkes and Tessa Jianas. However, Jianas
departed Monday for Eugene, Oregon to rehearse and perform seven shows of the ballet
Sleeping Beauty.” While she is away for over a month, Fowlkes remains the only
student currently participating in the class.

“It’s really weird being the only one in my class,” Fowlkes said. “When Tessa first
explained to me that she was going to be gone I was kind of freaking out but have since
then I’ve thought it is going to be okay. I really enjoy the class and have fun with [dance
teacher Andrea Skowroneck].”

Junior Lilly Kraus is currently taking astronomy, a singleton class of ten students.
Kraus finds the small class size to be beneficial.

“In astronomy, there’s a lot more group discussion,” Kraus said. “If you don’t
understand a concept, usually you’re not the only one in your class who doesn’t and so
you can go over it more in-depth, without feeling like you have held back the rest of the
class.”

According to Dunn, these smaller classes also provide a more focused learning
environment.

“I pay attention more in [western civilization] to the lectures because there isn”t really
anyone to distract me,” Dunn said. “It feels like it’s just Mr. Egner and you because he
talks to you directly, one-on-one.”

Through singletons, Kraus has been able to form new relationships with other
students.

“There are girls in class who I don’t think I really would have talked to if hadn’t taken
astronomy,” Kraus said. “Now I’ve been able to form new friendships with diverse girls
outside of my friend-group.”

Although there are benefits to being in these singleton classes, Kraus and Dunn
believe these courses also come with their fair share of challenges.

“The attention is more on you,” Kraus said. “For example, in some of my larger
classes, if I forget to do my homework, I feel like it’s more unnoticed. But in a class
where there’s only nine of us, if I didn’t read or something, there’s only so many people
[astronomy teacher Terry Connor] can call on for a question about the reading.”

According to Dunn, the empty classroom can also be irritating at times.

“When people are sick or something in the class, you kind of feel lonely,” Dunn said.

“Also, if you miss a class, it’s kind of hard to find someone to get notes from.”

Overall, Kraus enjoys the experience of having both small and large classes during the
school day.

“I don’t think I would like to have a schedule with all tiny classes,” Kraus said. “I think it’s good that I have some classes where i know it will be the same group of girls, but I also like being able to see a new group of girls, too.”

Leave a Comment
More to Discover

Comments (0)

Please review the Dart's editorial policy before commenting. Please use your first and last name; anonymous comments will not be published.
All DartNewsOnline Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *