Following an unforeseen decline for the 2024-2025 school year, freshman enrollment has increased by about 16.6%, school officials said.

“We had about six or seven plus years of increasing enrollment, and then last year kind of plateaued,” principal Craig Weinreich said. “Then this year, it’s kind of just gone back up.”

According to The California Department of Education, in the 2024-2025 school year, freshman enrollment decreased by approximately 10%, from 593 students in the 2023-2024 school year to 535 students. 

Despite a projected enrollment of 532 freshmen on Feb. 19, 2025, assistant principal Sarah Murrietta said there were 626 freshmen enrolled by the start of the 2025-2026 school year. 

“Everyone wants to be here,” Murrietta said. “This is a destination school.”

A program designed to welcome and assist freshmen throughout their first year of high school, Link Crew hosts community-building activities for freshmen and organizes their orientation. 

Looking back at the freshmen orientation attendance in 2024, Link Crew co-adviser Lindsey Safe said the turnout surprised her.

“There was a very noticeable increase [at freshman orientation],” Safe said. “At one point, we take all the freshmen and bring them onto the gym floor, and the gym was packed from side wall to side wall; it was very, very busy.”

However, because of the small size of the class of 2028 and the graduation of the class of 2025, Weinreich said the total student population at Sunny Hills has remained consistent with the previous term, with 2,436 students as of Aug. 25.

Despite this, the principal said he is grateful for the rising student interest in the school.

“It’s great to have that [increase],” he said. “If we can get right around that 600 in a class, I think that keeps us solid in most of our programs, helps maintain them, keeps them going and makes sure that we can have lots of things and programs to offer to students.”

While Weinreich said the new International Food Fair Night may have contributed to the increase in incoming freshmen, he said the administration did not take any measures to address last year’s decline. 

Instead, he said Sunny Hills’ campus, college career focus and extracurricular activities most likely attracted incoming students.

“For the most part, our students want to do the right thing and want to work hard, and when you have so many students who are going off to college, that helps other students,” he said. “Between athletics and clubs, there are lots of opportunities to get involved, and I think those [aspects] are appealing.”

Senior Brianna Chavez, a transfer from Buena Park High School, said the school’s positive reputation among her friends drew her to the campus. 

“When I was choosing a school to transfer to, I heard of Sunny Hills and of how the school worked, and it made me want to switch because I knew it would be beneficial for me,” Chavez said. “Everyone’s so much more friendly and more welcoming, and they have so many activities, like I’ve noticed, for sure, more effort was put into the school.”

The senior said the extensive selection of courses also helped her reinforce her decision. 

“I just came from [Regional Occupation Program] Sports Medicine, and I’m also taking Human Anatomy because I want to be an ultrasound technician in the future, so I feel like these classes will help me a lot for my future,” she said.

While junior Ameer Aram has not seen a significant increase in the student population, he said many of his classes have grown larger.

“In the classes I’ve taken last year, such as Spanish 2, it was not as full and there were empty chairs,” Aram said. “But right now, for my Spanish 3 class, it’s completely full and there is no room at all.”

Similarly, at orientation, freshman Giselle Merino Hernandez said she was shocked by the number of new students. 

“I walked in and the lines were so long, there were just tons of people, and when you tried to take a seat, there was not really much space because of how many kids were there,” Hernandez said.

Link Crew member, senior Syed Ayan, said he also noticed the large attendance at this year’s freshman orientation.

“I think this year was the best reaction we had yet,” Ayan said. “I think it’s amazing, I feel like it’s because we love our sports, we love making sure that we’ve included everyone…I like to think we have a path for everyone.”

Having viewed last year’s decline as a temporary setback, Weinreich said he is not concerned about future enrollment, with enrollment numbers increasing.

“People are excited about coming to Sunny Hills,” he said. “They liked what they saw when they came to tour Open House and the different types of programs offered…it’s great.”