As everybody knows JLA is a new, small school. Very small. We are a total of 99 students. 38 in high school and 61 in middle school. When I was applying to JLA, I knew from the beginning we weren’t going to be many, but I also knew that we, the students, were going to be close and have strong friendships. In Israel, everybody was open to talking to new people and making friends, which made a new, well-connected group. In schools that are already established, you don’t really create a friend group that you really like, you just become friends with people you already know which doesn’t make friends as special.
Last year I went to a school that had over 1,000 students. I had a friend group and I talked to some people but honestly, it didn’t feel like a community. Since it was a big school, I saw new faces every day. Adding to that, there were people that I’d been in the same classes with since sixth grade but still didn’t know their names. I liked my school and friends, but I was missing something. The feeling of not having a community changed when I came to JLA. Everybody was open to new people, friendships and conversations.
Next year the school is going to grow a large amount. We are going to have new people which is amazing! But it doesn’t mean that things will change. Some pros of adding new people to the school are that we are going to have more options for classes, there are going to be more students, so instead of a class having five people, classes will be more abundant having ten people or more. Another pro is more friends! Personally, I love meeting new people, getting to know them, and making new friends.The activities in Israel will also be different since next year we are going to be three grades 9th, 10th, and 11th, which is a multitude. Now, those are some pros but let’s talk about the things that won’t be the same. Like I said before, we are a very close community meaning that if we add more people there might be tension and we might not be as united as before. We will have more people in classes which is better, but we may not participate as much. Also, our group will be much bigger which might be harder to manage in Israel. Adding to that, another con is the lunch line. The lunch line is already long as it is, so more people will make it feel even longer. A solution to this could be adding more lunch periods, but that could mess up the whole schedule.
At the end of the day, everything depends on your point of view. I love having a community that is united like JLA’s and having new people might change that, but at the same time, I love making new friends and getting to know more people. JLA is very small, meaning it has a lot to grow. We will experience many changes that will shape the school, hopefully in a good way. Even though I am scared that more people will come, I am excited to see what the next year at JLA will bring.
