Red flags are going up over the abundant transfer applications
from parents requesting that their teenagers attend the new
Christopher High School in the fall.
1. 600 is the original benchmark for student enrollment in first year
Red flags are going up over the abundant transfer applications from parents requesting that their teenagers attend the new Christopher High School in the fall.
A new school always has a certain cachet. A glance out the window while driving along Santa Teresa Boulevard is enough to whet the appetite. It’s a beautiful facility. Add in a very well-respected principal in John Perales, assemble an impressive staff and, well, it’s understandable.
But the Gilroy Unified School District Board has and should continue to take a cautious approach. If it decides to exceed its benchmark of 600 students for enrollment in the first year of operation, the ramifications should be well considered. Superintendent Debbie Flores might recommend going beyond that number of 300 freshman and a like number of sophomores – and that might be the right course – but the Board should maintain a cap below the number of requested transfers. Just under 800 students are keenly interested in CHS.
2. If the board ups the number, it shouldn’t go all the way to 800
But starting with no more than 700 students at Christopher High should leave the district with enough wiggle room for eventualities like requests from students who have a sibling already attending CHS.
That also allows the school to grow without having a full plate right from the start. Christopher High’s capacity is listed as 1,600 to 1,800 students. If 800 are in the first year that’s a virtual stampede which leaves little margin for error. In two years Christopher High would reach capacity.
3. A manageable student population should vastly improve Gilroy High
Maintaining a sense of balance with Gilroy High, too, is an important factor. Competition, we believe, will be good for both schools. But patience is in order initially as the community sorts out the strengths and weaknesses of each campus.
And let’s not forget the point of opening Christopher. Virtually everyone in Gilroy thinks that Gilroy High is overcrowded and thus less personal and more prone to trouble. Less students should translate into a school which can capitalize on its strengths and seize control of its identity. This will be a huge leadership opportunity at Gilroy High.
If that doesn’t happen, an exodus will begin and the pressure of transfer requests will mount.
For now, it’s wise to take a patient course, analyze all the transfer data and set a cap that doesn’t fill Christopher High to capacity in such short order.
