GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK - Classes are intimate gatherings of 10 students or fewer, gangs are nonexistent and youngsters can play after school in one of the world's natural wonders.

So why are students in America's only school district in a national park so eager to leave?

''I just don't think there's too much opportunity here,'' said 10th-grader Sandra Keil, who has been in the park since second grade. ''There's just bigger and better things.''

The Grand Canyon, an expensive summer vacation for the millions of tourists who visit each year, is free to people who actually live in the park.

But there's no mall here, no movie theater and no community center. It's a 10-mile drive to the nearest pool table. And many of the youngsters are simply bored by the breathtaking natural surroundings.

''We have kids I swear have never looked over the rim,'' said Becky Crumbo, a guidance counselor. ''A lot of kids were starting to take drugs, and they were, like, the good kids. There's just nothing for them to do.''

The Grand Canyon School District, a set of six buildings a half-mile from the canyon's edge, has 350 students from kindergarten to 12th grade. Two-thirds of the students' parents are employed by the National Park Service or canyon concessions, such as snack bars and hotels.

A school board elected by residents runs the school district, which receives state aid as well as federal assistance, because it is on federal property and has a small tax base.

Some students say they wouldn't want to go to school anywhere else.

Silas Aiken, 18, has lived his entire life at the Grand Canyon. He and his two sisters were home-schooled 5 1/2 miles into the canyon, where his father works at a pumping station. Later, he began attending school.

''The town is definitely boring for the city kids who move here,'' said Aiken, who wants to be a basketball or baseball coach. ''But as far as the canyon goes, it's the best part of my life. Quite a few kids get into the canyon, but a lot of them are just like, whatever. They can't see it or understand it.''

Johnny Martinez defends the school where he plays basketball and serves as student body president. The 18-year-old said he would love to return to teach at his alma mater after attending college.

''I think the reason I'd come back is the school,'' Martinez said. ''Everyone is on a first-name basis and it's easier to communicate here.''

Hispanic and Indian students make up more than a third of the student body. But ''we don't have division here because we're too small,'' Martinez said.

Strangely, the students and teachers who live at the Grand Canyon don't make use of it in the classroom, said Superintendent John Vest. ''We get locked into some of the traditional modes, like everyone does.''

Around the Grand Canyon, it is common to see 12- and 13-year-olds earning $6 an hour bagging groceries or pouring coffee for tourists.

Sports are a major outlet for the students. More than half of the junior and high school students play sports, which means an average round-trip drive of six hours for games. The school switched recently to a four-day school week to make it easier to travel on Fridays and Saturdays.

Susan Diumenti, mother of two and former president of the five-member Grand Canyon School Board said ''We don't have a theater to go to, we don't have a Coney Island. Kids hike, kids visit with each other. I think they consider they have a pretty normal life.''