New schools open to stem Carlmont's overpopulation
Volume IX Issue 1
Published September 2017
With 2,183 students, Carlmont faces an overflowing population that parallels district-wide population growth. With increased pressure from growing enrollments, the Sequoia Union High School District (SUHSD) has taken action to counteract the overcrowding across the district.
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Alan Sarver is a trustee for the SUHSD and has been on the school board for 8 years. With this long tenure, Sarver has seen the efforts the school board has made in this area.
“The Peninsula has seen a strong population growth in recent years; in particular, the school districts that feed into Carlmont — the Belmont Redwood Shores School District and the San Carlos School District — have seen some of the most growth within the boundaries of the SUHSD […] with the biggest pressure on Carlmont High School and Menlo-Atherton High School (MA),” said Sarver.
Statistics from the National Center for Education show that the average student-teacher ratio in the nation is 16.1 students per teacher. However, the student-teacher ratio at Carlmont is 20.2, and the average class size is upwards of 27 students.
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Despite widespread acknowledgement of Carlmont’s swelling student body, some maintain that Carlmont’s growth is not a pressing issue when it comes to education.
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“A lower student-teacher ratio could be better, since each student would get more individual attention,” said Kyle Nip, a junior, “but I prefer a bigger class because the teachers are perfectly capable of teaching a 30 person class every topic we need to know.”
Aside from education, larger high schools also tend to have more developed extracurricular opportunities for students.
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Lily Gittoes, a sophomore, said, “I would prefer going to Carlmont because, even though there are a lot more people, there are also many more clubs and activities that I can get involved in.”
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Despite an overall contentment at Carlmont, growing enrollment is occurring across the district, and the SUHSD is aiming to reduce the influx of enrollment in the district’s high schools while maintaining balanced funding.
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The SUHSD took action on the population growth with Measure 1, a collection of bonds to finance construction in the district and ebbing the enrollment growth at the district’s schools.
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“When the district looked at the enrollment projection [across the district], we knew we were going to need more teachers and classroom, and we put Measure 1 on the ballot,” said Sarver, “Voters approved, and we began major construction projects at all the campuses in the district, the S-wing at Carlmont being a leading example.”
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MA’s student enrollment for the 2017-2018 year was around 2,600 kids, so the district has placed extra focus on building a new high school in East Menlo Park: Tide Academy.
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Sarver said, “Tide Academy, which will open in the fall of 2019, will eventually enroll 400 students, most of whom would have otherwise gone to Menlo Atherton.”
The District also purchased land in San Carlos for another small high school to supplement Carlmont, but shortly after Measure 1 went into effect, Oracle announced its plan for a permanent location for Design Tech (D-Tech), a school chartered by the San Mateo School District, at its campus in Redwood Shores.
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With D-Tech’s new location within the SUHSD boundaries, it has attracted a number of students and reduced the growing enrollment at Carlmont. However, the district has yet to sell the San Carlos land and waits to see if another small high school will be needed in the area.
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Sarver said, “The board is focusing first on Tide Academy. Afterwards we’ll turn our attention to see if it makes sense to build a second small high school in San Carlos or if Carlmont is okay with the construction of the classrooms and the opening of D-tech.”
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At this stage, the district-wide construction and D-Tech are almost all complete and the rate of enrollment at Carlmont appears to be abating.
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Sarver said, “The enrollment on the peninsula is still growing and we will make sure we have enough resources to ensure everyone gets the expected quality from the schools.”
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Tide Academy will open at 150 Jefferson Drive in Menlo Park in the fall of 2019.
Design Tech’s new location will open at 355 Oracle Parkway in Redwood City in January 2018.
The land purchased by the district in San Carlos is at 535 Old Country Road in San Carlos.