As the 2017 school year begins, the Spartan family has welcomed over 500 freshmen, pushing the total enrollment at Greeley West High School past 1700 students. With a total of 1767 students, West has the highest number of students enrolled in Greeley, followed by Central with 1540 students, and Northridge with 1235 student.

Though the enrollment population may vary due to students enrolled but not attending West, 1700 students is a big Spartan family. Greeley West currently has 83 teachers to match the 1767 students, yielding a 21:1 student to teacher ratio.

With the rapid growth of the Spartan family, overloaded teachers have become more common. Staff members who teach an overload are given an additional class that needs filling, and a teacher from that department teaches an additional class in place of one of their planning periods. “It is worth it to keep class sizes smaller for others,” said Ms. Kelly Stansbury in reference to her overloaded Street Law class.

Overflow is not uncommon in West either. “It’s hard because I can’t build relationships with all the students,” Stansbury commeneds on her overflow class of 43 freshmen. “The kids get half the amount of face time with the teachers.”

Though there are struggles, Stansbury, like many other Spartan teachers, continues to remain flexible and works hard to educate the students at Greeley West.

It can be a bit difficult to manage overcrowding in West when, “physically we don’t have space,” said Assistant Principal Amy Zulauf. “But I love that people want to come here”.