Prior to this school year, freshman Caroline Meador attended Sycamore School, a private school in Indianapolis that currently has an enrollment of 419 students ranging from preschool to eighth grade. Meador said she was looking forward to moving schools and transitioning from Sycamore to a large school such as CHS that has a population of 5,011 students this school year.

“I visited private schools, and I’d been going to Sycamore since the first grade. So I’ve decided that I wanted to go to a bigger school where I could meet more people and be more outgoing and have a lot more opportunities,” Meador said. “I felt really good about (transitioning from Sycamore to CHS).”

“I made my own routine, so (transitioning to CHS) wouldn’t be crazy. I didn’t pay attention to other people; I just focused to what I was doing, and that really got me off to a good start,” Meador said. “(My first impression of CHS) was crowded and big. But on the first day of school, it wasn’t bad.”

Anatomy teacher Erin Odya said she had a similar experience when she graduated from Edgewood High School in southern Indiana.

“(At CHS), there is a place for everyone. There’s always a person who shares the same interest with you, and the course offerings are amazing. We wouldn’t be able to offer the insane number of AP classes if we didn’t have this huge population,” Odya said. “The opportunities are just phenomenal, and you don’t get that just from the small schools.”

Odya said there are still some  adjustments that need to be made.

“My graduating class was 107, and I think now it’s probably between 175 and 200 for each graduating class. We (students at Edgewood High School) knew everyone in the whole school. The seniors knew all of the freshmen. Then here, you don’t know everyone in your graduating class, so I cannot imagine what it would be like for a student,” Odya said.

As a student who went to Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic School, student body president Mary Caltrider said the student population of CHS benefits her and students who had originally attended private schools before enrolling at CHS.

“I came to the frosh rock and saw all these different clubs and could not believe it. At smaller schools, there aren’t as many opportunities offered like here. I am the type of person that enjoys getting involved so seeing all these different things made me love the school even more,” Caltrider said via email. “I think the size of Carmel is perfect. I love attending a big school with so many different people and interests. I like the idea that I can walk into a random classroom and not know one person. It’s awesome to have the chance to make new friends whenever you want.”