Students sit shoulder-to-shoulder in the Ground Zero auditorium. Because of limited space, those a few minutes late find each seat filled, and must take a seat on the floor.

Over the past few years, space availability on campus has diminished compared to the number of students enrolled.

“We’ve had the problem of overcrowding for a while,” Jon Endicott, associate principal, said. “We are close to being completely full in the junior high and high school. We use every classroom every period, so there isn’t much flexibility with schedules.”

Scheduling became a common predicament during the summer for many students hoping to completely fill their schedule. With 32 teachers against a backdrop of 21 classrooms, the number of rooms available for classes runs lower every year.

“I had a lot of problems with scheduling this year,” Ellie Wilhelm, ’08, said. “I had to keep calling back, and in the first week of school, I went into the office about six times. I didn’t know it was because of space problems.”

Almost 400 students occupy the junior high and high school grades. Endicott feels the students lack the individual attention necessary for learning due to the high enrollment and small space.

“We’re using every square inch we can,” Endicott said. “That isn’t an optimum learning environment.”

Junior Jason Heron, due to the uncompromising schedules, failed to secure spots in his ideal classrooms.

“Our school is so small that I expect to get one-on-one attention all the time,” Heron said. “But all of my regular classes are really full, so I don’t get that as much as I used to.”

The first week of school, the publications class met in a building 6 hallway because the computer lab had been scheduled with three classes for the same period.

“I thought it was kind of ridiculous that we had to sit in the hallway,” Sydney Ray, ’10, said. “It was hard to focus because people kept walking up and down the stairs and talking and it’s uncomfortable on the floor. I felt dirty.”

Many classrooms meant for specific subjects are now used to accommodate students from different classes. The physics class, taught by David McEntee, meets in the art room instead of the designated science lab.

“Biology is going on at the same time, and they need the set up of the science room for their labs,” Molly Griffin, ’09, said. “To me, the biggest difference between the classrooms isn’t really the learning aspect, I just like the layout of the tables. I miss the tall tables.”

The surplus of students has also begun to affect school outside of the classroom. Students with their licenses often find themselves in a first-come, first-serve parking situation. In the hallways, many share lockers for equal storage space opportunities.

“I’m sharing my locker, but I really don’t mind it,” Kayla Haydock, ’10, said. “I get to see that person every day.”

In the state of California, the Los Angeles Unified School District ranked first in overcrowding, with about 587,000 students in 451 schools.

The Fresno Unified School District was listed tenth as the most crowded school district. While this campus has not yet reached such overcapacity, the administrators still see the number of students and the receding space as an emergent problem.

“We’ve lived with this problem for several years, but it’s gotten worse recently,” Superintendent Tim Wilkins said. “We can no longer facilitate all the creative program ideas our faculty has.”

Wilkins is concerned that students and teachers will cease their creativity because of unavailable space. This concern has sparked the idea for a new building, which will allow each teacher his or her own designated classroom.

Despite the campus congestion, most students continue their day-to-day routine, socializing with friends and attending their classes.

For more information on plans for the new building, visit Julianne Erkenbrecher’s ’06 article, New building plans underway.