by Jack Eckman ‘15
The class of 2017 is one of the largest classes St. Ignatius High School has ever had. Over 420 freshmen were on campus at the start of the year, about 40 more than the average class.
But future classes may not be as massive in the future. The Director of Admissions, Mr. Pat O’Rourke ’90 explained that the rise in class size is due to the confluence of a number of factors.
“There were a number of contributors that made this class so large,” O’Rourke said. “A big senior class graduated, not as many students in the class of 2017 declined admission, and we let in more students than usual.”
As a result of the big freshman class, the student body at the start of this year was larger than usual – 1,494 according to the school’s website.
While the student body is not at the saturation point just yet, O’Rourke said that another class this size would push the limit.
“We want to bring in as many smart and talented kids as we can, but not to the point where it is too many to effectively teach and provide an environment that stimulates growth,” said O’Rourke.
This means that incoming classes in the future will revert back to an average of about 380 students. And although there will be a big void to fill when the class of 2017 graduates, the admissions office and Board of Trusetes are trying to evenly distribute class sizes in preparation for that reality.
“Ultimately we will handle the admissions process as the Board sees fit, but do not expect large incoming classes to be standard,” O’Rourke said.
Mr. O’Rourke said that prospective student interest for the class of 2018 is promising.
“There will be about 800 taking the admissions test, which is more than in past years, and judging from the scores that came back so far, it looks as if there will be far more Scholars than usual,” O’Rourke said, referring to a recognition program for exceptionally high-scoring students.
This means that though the school is not necessarily growing in numbers, it is attracting more top students.
The class of 2017 is an anomaly as far as total number of students per class is concerned, but it is indicative of a new trend at St. Ignatius. Each year more of the top students from local grade schools are picking St. Ignatius as their top choice, which may bode well for St. Ignatius’s reputation as one of the top high schools in the Cleveland area.
