Bumper crop of freshmen at BHS

Published 2:00 pm Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Classes are crammed for freshman at Bainbridge High School, but the school’s total enrollment is about where officials expected it to be.

The incoming freshman class has 362 students, 47 more than projected, according to BHS principal Brent Peterson.

“It’s put a little bit of a squeeze on us,” he said. “We’ve been well over capacity for a number of years now.”

Peterson said the biggest impact will be felt in freshman English classes, which will likely swell by one or two students each. In addition to slightly more crowded classrooms, he said staffing for the classes would also be tight.

Still, despite a freshman class that’s larger than usual, lower-than-anticipated enrollment in the other classes helped even things out overall. The high school started the year with 1,477 full-time students, 17 more than it ended with last spring.

Peterson and his staff prepared to enter the year with 1,483 students. Projections are based on growth trends and countywide birth rates.

It’s not unusual to see spikes in the incoming freshman class because many families plan moves to coincide with the beginning of high school. BHS has grown steadily in recent years, but will benefit from a major expansion now under way that includes more classroom space.

For now, though, the school is making do. Because students pre-register for classes in the spring, Peterson said officials know well in advance which non-required classes are in the highest demand.

“It helps us get overall staffing done, even if we’re slightly off on our projections,” Peterson said. “But we’re still very full.”