Vernon Hills High School is growing in size. The steady increase of incoming freshmen is affecting both staff and students. 

Dr. Guillaume has seen the student population steadily grow as the years have passed. 

“Our freshman classes continue to be larger than the senior classes going out. We are over 1,500 students this year for the first time,” Guilliame explained. “The projections are that we’ll continue to grow over the next handful of years.”

Mrs. Garcia weighed in on her job as a counselor, mentioning that it has become more difficult as the student population increases. She said changing students’ schedules is now a significant challenge. 

“On the counseling side of things we do, we do see it as an impact because what happens is when we get these new enrollments, especially kind of last-minute in August, and we need to have space for those students to take courses that are required for graduation purposes,” said Garcia.

Garcia also referenced how certain periods throughout the day are more of a struggle to fit students into based on the increase in student population.

“I think we’ve also noticed certain periods of the day being harder than others,” Garcia said. “The end of the day seems to be harder because there are teachers who have duties and they don’t have to teach certain periods.”

Dustin Ickow (12) said the student population increase has become somewhat annoying at times, but that it’s not a major problem.

“The crowded hallways and increase in students doesn’t bother me that much; it can be annoying, but my school day still goes on. It’s like a minor inconvenience,” said Ickow.