Influx of freshmen drives enrollment close to 1,900

By CRISTINA SOLIS
The Tower

Over the last few years, Manteca High School has witnessed a noteworthy trend — the rise in student population.

The upswing in enrollment has far-reaching impacts on the campus community.

Manteca High’s students body has grown by nearly 200 students over the last five years, according to data obtained by The Tower. In 2019, 1,689 students were enrolled at the Manteca Unified School District’s largest and oldest campus. Today, student enrollment has spiked to 1,881 and is projected to crest 1,900 by the end of the school year. The largest class this year is the freshman class (477 students), which has grown by an average of 60 students every year since 2019.

“I came to Manteca High last year and I would say our student population was probably around 1,750ish at the beginning of the year and we ended this year in 1,900, so it’s grown about 150 students just over the summer,” said Angelina Vasquez, the school’s registrar. “A lot of our students are incoming freshman, we have a huge freshman class this year, so that’s where a lot of the growth is.”

There are multiple challenges that come from a cramped campus.

It’s a packed house inside Jiana Boudreaux’s art class. All across Manteca High, classrooms are filled to the brim with students. (MOISES RAMOS)

The surge in students continues to wear out educational resources, such as faculty, infrastructure, and funding. Institutions are learning to accommodate this growing number of students while maintaining the standard of education and Manteca High is no different.

Vasquez credits the counseling team, front office staff, and faculty for maintaining the learning environments for the school’s 1,900 students.

“I don’t work in the classroom, but I’m sure there’s a lot of challenges for teachers,” she said. “However, I know as I’m enrolling them, our counselors are doing everything they can to work with the students to get them in the classes that they need or want. I know there’s a little bit of a struggle there. But honestly overall, especially here in the office, we have an amazing group of people who work up here. The staff is awesome, and even with the numbers rising, everyone seems to be making it happen for the students. The energy is super good.

“Even though, yes, the numbers are rising, we’re getting more students. Everyone seems to be going with the flow. Doing what we need to do for the students.”