The 1000 and 900 buildings on campus opened this year with the goal of expanding the number of classrooms in order to accommodate the growing number of students and teaching staff. The previous buildings on campus are still formatted the same way.

“One of our big goals here at Portola is interdisciplinary studies, so we wanted a bunch of classrooms and teachers to be all mixed up together so that the students realize everything is really connected,” literary & language arts teacher Lyndsey Hicks said.

Classes such as social studies, literary and language arts and math not all together in one place, which is where the interdisciplinary studies come into place. The connected classes make it easier for some students to move around throughout the day. However, they may have also added loaded stress for other students who have classrooms in many different areas.

The performing arts buildings are still located in the same spot as last year, so students in those classes go to the same classroom as always. The science department still has its own building. Some academic classes were transported to new sections on campus.

“I really like my new room. I have this amazing view, and before I just looked at the cinder block wall across from me. Now I have a whole look at the entire quad, and I think it is probably one of the best views on campus,” Hicks said, whose class moved from the 600 building to the 900 building.

Some students are looking forward to being in the new buildings because they feel that the expansion adds to the high school experience.

“I like how there are new locations because it makes it feel bigger and a little bit more like high school,” sophomore Madison Rashidian said.  

Other students do not like the location compared to other buildings and wish that more buildings were dedicated to one subject.

“I would rather have all classes organized by subject because it’s less chaotic when students are trying to get to their class,” junior Trisha Andrews said.