Every school has a limit on how many students it can safely house before it reaches a point of overcrowding. Clarksburg High School, while only in operation for one year, is rapidly approaching that point.

“The school is on the brink of being overcrowded,” said assistant principal Bernie LeGrande. “We are fast approaching capacity and over.”

“When a class is overcrowded, it can make it difficult for every student to have a chance to contribute what he or she wants to say into the class. It’s harder to get to everyone,” said English teacher Jeanine Hurley.

The school is built for “a little over 1500” students, said LeGrande. “We’re not at 1500, but we’re getting close.”

Last year approximately 1050 students attended CHS. Now, there are approximately 1468 students in the building. The addition of another freshman class, coupled with the growth of pre-existing classes, as well as increased residency due to many new housing developments in the area, have contributed to the expansion of the school.

The administration is using all available spaces, including seminar rooms and mini-computer labs, to keep class sizes to a minimum because of the lack of classrooms.

“I think the [school population] is growing faster than the county allocates staffing,” said psychology teacher Diane Maloney. The addition of classes in rooms that were previously empty during teachers’ planning periods helped to assuage the overcrowded classrooms.

“The recommended class size is 32 [students] for pretty much all the classes except for English, which is 28 [students],” said LeGrande.

In response to the bus overcrowding, more bus routes have been added.

While the school is begining to reach its limit, the entire staff is working dilligently to manage the sudden surplus in the student body. “Mr. Koutsos is continuing to work the best [he can] to alleviate class sizes and add sections where he has the possibility [of overcrowding],” said Maloney.