There is no shortage of student bodies that already exist at Creek, and the numbers predict that there won’t be a decline any time soon.

3,724 students are enrolled at Creek, and the growth pattern for the next couple of years projects that we will have even more students in the next few years.

Principal Ryan Silva emphasizes that Creek can only grow bigger from this point.

“We’re in a growth pattern for a little while,” Silva said, “because from this year’s sixth grade at Campus and West up to this years juniors, they’re bigger classes, so we anticipate that we will grow next year.”

More students per class join the Creek family than the class before them, so more students overall are expected in the following years at Creek.

Yet the current students already have to adapt to the size of the campus with the large number of students. Junior Stewart Rojec describes the different methods he has to take to get to class just to avoid the large crowds.

“East used to be Campus, so the hallways are a lot smaller, so I mostly walk outside or take the entrance by security because in the first few minutes of passing period, everybody comes out,” Rojec said.

Other students voice the hassle that overcrowding has caused not only inside the buildings, but outside as well.

“I want to avoid the crowds, so I have nothing else to do but walk outside,” Sophomore Jordan Babbey said.

However, other variables will be introduced next year that will help with the population.

“One thing that’ll help us next year is the Cherry Creek Innovation Campus will open, and we’ll have students that take classes there,” Silva said.

The Cherry Creek Innovation Campus will be located about eight minutes away on Fairmont Avenue and will be able to take more students away from campus during the day.

For the faculty and staff at Creek, there is a contrast in opinions since they have been here for a longer period of time and have seen the pattern for a longer time.

Assistant Principal Kevin Uhlig hasn’t noticed much of a difference in the twelve years he has been at Creek.

“Our numbers have stayed pretty much the same over the twelve years. In fact, they might go up 50-100 students max, or down 50-100, but we pretty much always stay right around that 3,700 students,” Uhlig said.

Other students express that the campus can maintain its size.

“I’m sure it [overcrowding] has been happening, but it’s such a huge campus that the people distribute pretty evenly,” Rojec said.

Creek is a large campus. Over the past decade, the student number has steadily increased according to Registrar Donna Luther-Adrian who has also been at Creek for a little over a decade.

“When I first started here, the numbers were around 3,500,” Luther-Adrian said.

The numbers also explain that for the next school year, more students will be entering the school instead of leaving since there will be 920 incoming freshman with only 880 seniors graduating. That doesn’t include other students who transfer into the school.

Uhlig explained that Creek’s steady increase in population is due to the outstanding educational services.

“It’s pretty amazing that we’ve maintained our enrollment, but that speaks volumes about the quality of our school and the quality of our community and how much they value education,” Uhlig said.