The sizes of graduating classes at Park High is a controversial issue, mostly because alumni seem to want to think that their class was the biggest ever. The issue is complicated by early graduations, last minute dropouts, and war years, when many young men left before graduation to enlist. In the case of the Korean Conflict, some Veterans chose to return to the classrooms to complete their high school diplomas.
Hence, there is no “official” class size for the various classes. All we can do is look at the various parameters and folks can make that judgement for themselves. Fortunately, Carolyn Charles had the foresight to save Superintendent Harold Enestvedt’s original commencement programs throughout the peak years, so we have the number of people who people who participated in graduation ceremonies. But again, those numbers may or may not have included students who graduated early or young men who enlisted in the service during the Vietnam War in order to have their choice of branch instead of being drafted.
for a spreadsheet that includes several parameters to consider when making your judgement as to which was the largest graduating class at Park High. Certainly it was during the baby boom years. The rest??