Class Load Restrictions: Smart Safeguard or Academic Handcuffs?

On March 30, every 9th-, 10th-, and 11th-grader had to answer the same question: “Which classes will I take next year?” For some, this was an easy choice; others wondered why they had to choose which class would fill their 7th slot or which honors would fill their 4th, or why they couldn’t take dual enrollment. 

I, curious, asked the policy’s flamekeeper—Mrs. Bates. “We think you can get a really varied and rigorous course load during the academic year here, and we want folks to be able to focus on their Stevenson commitments,” she offered. As a senior who has lived under this policy for four years, I can’t say I disagree with her reasoning. 

Among the general students, the picture is far less clear. Nearly an even 50-50 split in favor of the Class Load Restrictions resulted from the March 31 Class Load Restrictions Survey, with the slight majority supporting the restrictions. 

Among the voices that spoke in favor of the class load restrictions, Class of ‘27’s Jerry Ding stood out as a particularly powerful one: “Limiting the amount of [course]work doesn’t restrict the amount of effort a student can put into a subject…Rather than stifling growth, it actually protects space for more.”

This viewpoint refers to a quality over quantity pedagogy, where the focus isn’t on doing more, but deepening the impact that teachers can have on their students. 

Some students feel this intuitively. A senior who would prefer to remain anonymous states that the restriction facilitates a healthy school-life balance, enabling students to excel in AP classes without the pressure of taking 6 or 7 just to keep up with students from unrestricted schools. The impact of this varies: some students will feel inspired to dive deeper into their course material, while others will use their free time to hang out with friends or develop new skills. 

On the other hand, some people feel that the course restrictions actually inhibit their ability to explore academically. A survey respondent noted, “I used my honors/AP slots in freshman/sophomore year to take the honors versions of science/history/language that we all had to take, but that left me with no ability to take classes like AP CSA or something similar.” In other words, the cap does more than simply limit the number of advanced classes a student can take; it also pushes out advanced electives in favor of meeting graduation requirements while pursuing rigor in subjects colleges care about.

Another respondent claimed, “Last year I didn’t have enough slots for AP Calculus and AP Spanish Literature, and I had to choose Calculus, but this led to the AP Spanish class getting cut because it was under-enrolled.” While it is a tragedy to lose a class to under-enrollment, being forced to consider your interests and priorities while selecting courses mirrors the choices we will face in college: four courses from hundreds of options, one or two majors from dozens of possibilities. Maybe getting that early practice is a good thing.

That said, one of the biggest concerns among critics of the course load restriction policy was the one-size-fits-all approach. From class to sports and extracurriculars, every single person has a different schedule, so why should the school give every student the same restrictions?

From my conversations with many people in the Monterey community, I found a common belief that Stevenson students are remarkably busy. Between mandated afterschool sports, a constant social life, a breadth of rigorous academics, plenty of mandated fun, and outside extracurriculars, I think it’s a fair assumption. In terms of college admissions, Mrs. Bates argues that the policy harms no student, since applicants are evaluated within their own context; inconsistency across groups is what causes students to lose the benefit of the doubt. In this way, maybe the restrictions give every student an edge in college admissions.

For me, it left the space to pursue what I was genuinely curious about, both in and outside of school. That curiosity, I learned, does not have to stop at the classroom door, and you don’t need a class to learn a skill or pursue a passion. It’s simply up to you to take that first step.