While the classrooms and hallways are not getting any bigger, the student population is growing. The hallways are beginning to seem smaller than they ever were before and there simply are not enough teachers to manage this ever-expanding mass of students.

There are only 494 juniors this year, indicating they were a class of about 500 freshmen. However, this year there was a class of 575 freshmen, bringing in about 75 more students for teachers to handle in their already overflowing classrooms. Although classes eventually reach a limit after a certain number of students, even a class of 30 students can be a burden to the teachers.

To help with the problem, trailers were added over the past few summers.

Renee Yates, who works in the attendance office, attributes McLean’s growth to the school’s reputation.

“There are simply more people moving to McLean. Lots of people look up the boundary lines when they move,” Yates said. Many people recognize McLean’s academic achievements and want to send their children to the school in order to get better college opportunities.

“More people are moving to McLean because of the good reputation it has,” Yates said.

Unfortunately, this good reputation will not solve the problem of the growing number of students that enroll every year.

Each year, there should be a limit to the amount of people that are allowed to enroll in the school. That way, when the school year comes to a start, teachers will not be overwhelmed with enormous classes.

By limiting the number of students that enroll each year, the hallways would be much less crowded. Setting the limit at about 500 people per year would allow for people to move around freely from class to class with much less pushing and shoving in the hallway.

Students would also be able to reach their classes much quicker, making the five minutes in between classes feel longer than they seem to be currently.

Students would also have more free time during their breaks and more time for things such as bathroom breaks and making it to class on time. These are tasks that they are unable to attend to now, as the halls are too crowded and it is impossible to get around quickly enough.

Regardless, having an enrollment limit each year could solve many problems. There would still be full classes, and the hallways would not be completely clutter free, but the overall effect would benefit all of the faculty and give the students a much more relaxed time at school.