On Aug. 16, the 200 hall was even more jammed than usual due to the 389 students in this year’s freshman class.
“You can tell the difference between the freshman hallway and all the others,” senior Erica Lange said. “Let’s just leave it at that.”
According to Registrar Mary Urso, the number of incoming freshmen was fairly evenly split between Blue Valley Middle School and Prairie Star Middle School.
Additionally, 30 students came to BV from out-of-state, private or parochial schools, such as St. Michael the Archangel.
“It’s kind of different because you really don’t know everybody,” freshman Lavanya Aggarwal said. “If someone waves at you, you may not know who they are.”
Principal Scott Bacon said BV has added staff to accommodate students in classes, programs, clubs and sports.
Science teacher Melanie Mahoney said because BV added more biology sections and a new teacher, her class sizes have decreased from last year.
“There is not nearly as much bumping around in class doing labs,” Mahoney said. “Kids seem to respect each other’s space more when there is more space. When we have fewer people and fewer disruptions, I feel that we can get more done.”
Although the freshman class is larger than those of recent years, Bacon said he is not worried about problems related to its size.
“We’ve been bigger before,” he said. “As far as growing, we’ve experienced this.”
Bacon’s challenge for this freshman class is unchanged from the one he has given to those in the past.
“I challenge them to be the most accomplished class that ever has set foot in Blue Valley High School,” he said.
He said BV’s mission will not be changed by the new freshmen.
“We typically have our goals, and dreams and our challenges to pursue,” he said. “The size of class really doesn’t make a difference.”