With Stratford class sizes growing, the Academy had to order more lockers this fall for both the middle and upper school.

The school added about 20 new lockers for the middle school — mostly because of the more than 90 students in the 6th grade class — and six for the upper school.

The middle school lockers were placed in front of 6th grade history teacher Mr. Andy Lawson’s classroom, while the upper school lockers were placed near the junior and senior commons area.

“They do not bother me a bit.  I just get frustrated when I see a mess in the locker bay of papers and trash,” Lawson said.

Middle School Principal Ms. Sue Appleby said that the location of the lockers may mean that it takes 6th graders longer to change classes.  But she added that 6th graders already take a longer time to get and return their books because they are new to middle school.

“The sixth grade lockers were already very crowded. Now, they’re just going to have to learn to work around it,” Appleby said.

The six new upper school lockers have have had less of an impact, although the upper school — like the middle school — would be hard pressed to find space for any additional lockers if the size of the upper school continued to grow.

Even with the size of the current student body, both middle and upper school administrators said they still welcome new students with open arms.

“The more, the merrier,” Appleby said.  “Although no more sixth graders this year.”

Upper School Assistant Principal Mr. Chance Reynolds agreed.

“That would be a wonderful issue to have,” Reynolds said of a larger student body.