The steady annual increase in student enrollment in Mill Valley schools has become more obvious at Tam this year. This increase can be attributed to trends of people moving to Mill Valley and growing family sizes, among other factors. According to Assistant Principal Brian Lynch, the freshman class size increased by 16 percent this year and is expected to continue to rise for the next five to six years.

“The fact that more people are moving here really speaks to how great our community runs and how desirable our public school system is,” Lynch said.

According to Meredith McCarty, a real estate agent from Coldwell Banker Real Estate, Mill Valley real estate prices have increased 6 percent in the last year alone and almost every home that does come on the market sells quickly. This indicates a strong sellers’ market. “Not many more houses can be built in Mill Valley, so that has driven a rise in buyers and prices,” McCarty said. McCarty also said that the average price for a house sold in Mill Valley is $1,167,000, up 9 percent from the average prices for houses this time last year. An increase of home buying has allowed more families with children to move to Mill Valley.

Teachers and students are feeling most of this in classrooms and around campus. With greater enrollment at Tam, increased class size is a very real possibility. According to Lynch, Tam is planning on hiring more teachers to handle the growing student population.

Sophomore Lisa Mallet has observed that bigger classes can get in the way of learning. “It’s really annoying because teachers can’t focus on us and give us time to have one-on-one practice,” Mallet said. “In PE, we have a lot of kids so we can’t practice our drills and techniques as much.”

Tim Morgan, a Social Studies teacher, has noticed how the increasing class size affects student-teacher relationships. “I’m fine with a bigger class, but the only difference is that there are shortages of desks and individual one-on-one time,” he said. “We all have to be flexible with this increase and get creative with class time.”

Lynch said that besides hiring more teachers to accommodate the increasing class sizes, no other drastic changes will be made. “We have everything we need. Maybe we will hire more teachers, but that’s probably going to be it,” Lynch said.

However, others disagree with him. “To deal with bigger class sizes, we could hire more teachers, definitely think about building onto the school, and add options for more classes,” Mallet said. “Those would help.”