Ames High School’s motto is “Ames High Aims High,” and it now seems to be aiming even higher.

With students lined up at the front door and squeezing through the halls to get to classes, Ames High is now packing in an all-time record number of students.

Last year Ames High had 1,612 students enrolled. This year enrollment rose to 1,693.

The original portion of the school was built in 1961 to accommodate 1,200 students. Since then Ames High has had to build three additions to make room for 300 more students, said Principal Chuck Achter.

The building, which now has a capacity of 1,500, is currently squeezing in an extra 193 students.

“I’m glad to be a senior,” said Ames High student Michael Shrum, “because it’s going to get worse.”

Shrum said Ames High is now using a security check, which requires students to carry their school IDs at all times.

“At lunch you can only leave through the front door,” he said. “All the other doors are locked and the teachers are guarding them.”

Student reaction to the security measures has been mixed.

“It takes 10 minutes to get out at lunch. … It’s a good system to keep the sophomores from leaving, but it takes up time and crowds the door,” said Katy Crawford, junior at Ames High.

When asked if the overcrowding had ever caused him to be tardy to class, Shrum said, “Not yet, but I can see it being a problem. It’s really hot, and you get aggravated when there’s people talking in the main lobby and you need to get to class.”

Crawford also had concerns about the overcrowding leading to tardiness.

“Now attendance sheets are picked up five minutes after class starts, so even the lax teachers who don’t care about tardiness have no choice,” she said. “They can sympathize, but there’s nothing they can do when the attendance sheet is already taken away.”

Achter said teachers are now forced to share their classrooms with other teachers and other classes.

Associate Principal Mike Avise said some classes are “pushing 30, which we consider large.”

“The classes are all over-full, and the junior/senior room and lunchroom are really crowded,” Juli Coy, junior at Ames High.

Crawford said the overcrowding is affecting more than just the classrooms.

“The front lobby is unbelievably crowded … and the hallways are always shoulder to shoulder,” he said.

However, Crawford said freshmen seem to get the brunt of the overcrowding. “I didn’t know how to get around my first year, and it wasn’t nearly this crowded,” she said.

Freshmen also are the students that get “kicked out” of classes when there are too many students and not enough chairs, Crawford said.

“There’s just not a lot of wiggle room in changing your mind,” said counselor Jane Olson. “It won’t be difficult for students to get the classes they need for graduation; it’s just difficult to change your mind in what class you want to take.”

Class size and overcrowding have not had a major effect on disciplinary problems or referrals, said Dale Tramp, dean of students at Ames High.

“I don’t see the overcrowding as a problem,” he said. “We’re able to handle the increase in students.”

The facilities committee held a meeting Monday night to further discuss three proposed plans to deal with the overcrowding, Achter said.

However, Achter is staying positive about the overcrowding.

“I think our teachers will make the best of it and make it work,” he said.