Hamber Hits Maximum Capacity Of Students

Photo Credit: Kaylen Yip

At the start of the 2025/2026 school year, Eric Hamber reached its maximum capacity of 1700 students. As of Oct. 23, Hamber Principal Mr. J. Lauzon (Administration) affirmed that Hamber officially enrolls 1701 students. 

This growth in student population has put a strain on school resources: some students went without locker assignments at the start of the year, and a few teachers had to share classrooms. 

“There are 1700 lockers at Hamber. By the end of September, we knew there were 43 students not assigned lockers,” said Hamber Vice Principal Ms. N. Gates (Administration), who is in charge of handling student locker assignments. 

“We did actually have enough lockers the first week of September for the bodies in the school, but we just didn't know who was missing lockers yet,” said Ms. Gates. She explained that at the beginning of the year, so many students were enrolling in and leaving the school at the same time, making it impossible to confirm the permanent number of Hamber students who needed a locker. 

Jenin Carino (12) was one of the students not assigned a locker in September. “It’s pretty difficult, especially since I’m one of the people who don’t have lockers this year. I do sports after school as well, so I have a lot of stuff in my bag, and it’s difficult for me to carry all these things around,” Carino said. 

“It’s kind of sad because the school was just built and there’s already no free lockers,” said Claira Harvey (8), another student who lacked a locker assignment. “There are so many lockers that don’t have any locks or that are unopened, so it seems kind of sad because what’s the use of a bunch of empty lockers if they're not going to be used, and some kids don’t have lockers?”

However, Ms. Gates said that unused lockers have now been brought back into the pool of available ones. She reasoned that if a student wasn’t using their assigned locker by the end of September, it “didn’t make sense” to keep it assigned to them when there are other students without lockers. 

Furthermore, Ms. Gates has said that students who did not previously have locker assignments are welcome to come by the office to claim a locker at any time. A PA announcement was previously made by office staff during the week of Sept. 29 to inform students that they could now get a new locker assignment. 

Hamber teachers also struggled with the increased student population as they had to adapt to share their classroom with other teachers.

Mr. N. Despotakis (Administration) shared, “I think staff have been very gracious with the changes that have come. I haven't heard any complaints.”

“There were some concerns that I addressed because I had to, and it made sense to make the changes [...]. What we did is we tried to accommodate [teachers] as best as we could.” Mr. Despotakis added. “I'm very thankful that the staff [...] have adapted to the new reality.”

Ms. D. Stefanek (English), one of the teachers who had to share a classroom, outlined her experience. “At other schools, I have shared classrooms before. Last year [at Hamber] was really nice because I got to have it as my own space all day long. So transitioning back to having to share was different but not new to me,” she said. “However, it's harder for students to find me, and I can't work on things the same way. I have to bring student work around with me, and it's harder to feel collected or put together.”

Ms. Stefanek also shared a recent incident that occurred. “ I was walking down the stairs at the end of the day. I tripped and fell down some of the stairs, and the papers in my arms went flying,” she said. “I’d like to think that that's less likely to happen if my arms were not toting my belongings across the building at all times.” 

Mr. Despotakis added that staff were told beforehand of the move. “Seeing how many students were coming in [...] it was clear to me that some staff would have to be in our [Professional Development Centre’s] during their prep time. So, I informed them last spring in May.” At that time, Mr. Despotakis answered and tried to resolve any concerns that teachers had. 

Professional Development Centres are rooms at Hamber that are dedicated to specific departments at Hamber. 

Hamberites have also pointed out other issues arising from a large student population. “The main stairs are always packed with everyone,” Carino said. “Sometimes I’m late to school because there’s a whole group of people around the doors and the stairs. I just think people need to be spatially aware of their surroundings.”

Mr. Despotakis also mentioned that there are not enough lunch tables in the cafeteria to accommodate Hamber students. “We are expecting to receive more round tables in the cafeteria from the VSB,” said Mr. Despotakis. “We have a lot of chairs. They were supposed to be for more round tables.” He added that the final shipment of round tables will arrive during winter break.