On an average day at Fossil Ridge High School, it might just take a student a whole 8 minutes of their passing period to get to their class. The halls of FRHS seem more crowded than ever this year, which has people asking: Has our school really grown that much?

The answer is no. According to Dr. Cook, the school’s student population has only grown by about 100 students, making the grand total 2,075

The majority of the 100-student growth comes from School Choice, allowing students to choose which high school they want to attend. “We have high test scores and a great reputation. People want to be here,” Dr. Cook said. However, this was the first year that not all School Choice students were accepted; FRHS turned away about 30 School Choice applicants. “We really wanted to aim for the 2,075 mark, and because of that we couldn’t take everybody.”

According to Dr. Cook, the School Choice students that were accepted have greatly added to the diversity of the school. There are many more students this year from different ethnic backgrounds and even from different countries. “Diversity adds a great value to this school.”

If there are only 100 additional students, then, why does the school feel so crowded? Last year’s senior class was a small class, while the freshmen class was big—about 530 students. Now that the seniors have graduated and moved on, all 530 of those sophomores now have to share the east and west locker bays with the rest of the school, which has created some challenges for the administration. According to Dr. Cook, there are not enough lockers for everyone, and that is the reason for locker partners. This was the first year that students have not been able to choose their partners; instead they’ve been assigned. “We wanted to eliminate the cliques that crowd around the locker bays and instead meet their friends at their classrooms. Also, we’ve had issues with students breaking up with their best friends and not wanting to share a locker with that person anymore, so we’re trying to avoid that issue as well.”

Another challenge is the lack of classrooms for all of the Advisory classes. With560 new freshmen at the school, some advisories must use the Commons as their meeting place, or even the conference room in the office. “We tried to find places for everybody,” explained Dr. Cook, adding “we want to keep Advisory class size small because we have seen that it is really beneficial for the students.”

There are also tentative plans for next year to alleviate the crowded hallways. This year, the administration added the zero hour classes at the beginning and end of the daily schedule (music was offered last year, but additional classes are being offered now).  “We’re hoping that we can add more classes at these times next year because it will spread out the classes and make things a little less crowded.”