The east bay area is filling up with people  , and so are our schools.

With ever growing student base, having class at Heritage can begin to feel overwhelming and packed. When the bells ring to tell us to go to class or when they ring to let us out, you will see a sudden rush of Heritage’s students trying to go to class, lunch, or home.

Heritage High School was originally designed with a capacity of 2,200 students and with the addition of six portable classrooms, our school’s size reached an all time high last year with almost 2,500 students attending the school.

This year, according to the registrar Ms. Reed, we again have broken our own record, reaching a whopping 2,604 students attending in all four different grades.

With the increasing amount of students, and stagnant amount of classrooms and portables, some teachers no longer have a classroom of their own, and have resorted to sharing a room with another teacher. On top of not having enough classrooms, most of the classes themselves have over thirty students.

Having  smaller classroom sizes mean more time for teachers to make sure that each and every student understands the material before moving on. More classes and more teachers also mean that each student will have better experiences with a subject giving them more opportunities and choices in the future. Unfortunately, teachers are now forced to move on no matter what, leaving certain students behind and confused.

Heritage is crowded because of the growing population of Contra Costa County itself. In the last census, conducted in 2010, there were over 50,000 residents in Brentwood alone, now account for the amount of growth and expansion that we’ve seen in the past seven years.

While Heritage is definitely crowded, students like Matthew Murray and Justin Lane say that they believe there is still plenty of space on campus.

“As long as we can fit everyone in the gym, I think it’s fine,” said Murray.

While they both agree that there is enough room for now, they also both agree that in the near future, we will need more space.

“Not just more portables, but an extension of the campus, and more buildings,” said Lane.

Even though some would say the school is crowded, others would argue that we can never have too many students.

“I hope that we continue to grow, so that more kids are able to  Heritage,” said Murray.

Heritage should and will continue to grow and change for the better. While opinions on the subject will vary, it is obvious in the near future something must be done about packed schools, whether it would be expanding their campuses, or building new schools entirely.