On the first day of class, Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus teacher Mr. Brian Klinger found himself facing his packed fourth hour that was well over the 31 student capacity. With 33 students eager to take the class and three more on the waiting list, another AP Calculus class had to be created.

“Rather than trying to tell five or six kids ‘sorry, we don’t have room, you can’t take it,’ [administration] agreed to create a second class to accommodate everybody who wanted to take the class,” said Klinger.

Working with Senior Guidance Counselor Mrs. Karyn Blume and other administration, Klinger helped to come up with an alternative solution.

“Mr. Klinger made it easier because he was willing to take an additional class and give up his planning time during this trimester in order to take on the additional class,” said Blume. “Had we not been able to do that, it would have been very difficult.”

With the additional second hour class available, some students had the ability to switch into it. Others had AP Literature and Composition during the slot or were simply unable to move due to other scheduling conflicts.

Klinger’s additional AP Calculus class only has nine students in it.

Senior Ciara Schultz was one of the students who transferred to the alternate hour.

“I talked to [Mrs. Blume] and they were able to switch me [into AP Calculus],” said Schultz. “It wasn’t that difficult, really.”

The two separate classes differ in dynamics, mainly because of their sizes.

“The bigger class can be better because you can get a lot of ideas that are bouncing around so kids can feed off of each other,” said Klinger. “But in the smaller class setting, they get a lot more attention from me personally because they can ask questions.”

Schultz likes being in the smaller class for precisely that reason.

“[Having a smaller class has] really helps a lot,” said Schultz. “It allows a lot of extra time with Klinger.”

The changes have had both a positive and negative impact. Though his students have enjoyed the privileges that come with being in a smaller class, the loss of a planning hour has been a challenge to Klinger.

“[Losing my planning hour] has been the biggest inconvenience,” said Klinger. “It affects me at home. I’m really tired. I’m ready to crash a couple hours before I’m ready to do much of anything else.”

On a positive note, Klinger still has 34 students set on learning from him and gets paid for teaching the additional class.

Calculus in all its forms has been available at the high school for 16 years. With such a high enrollment in Pre-Calculus classes, the need for AP Calculus is not likely to change.