Last year, Bedford High School was half full. Built for four grades, only two of them occupied it. This year, that spacious feeling will make way for more students, more teachers and more programs.

The school is going through a growth spurt, nearly doubling its enrollment and adding another grade.

“It does feel a little different but it is something that we anticipated would happen,” said Principal George Edwards.

The high school was limited to freshmen and sophomores last year, comprising a student body of about 580 students. This year, as classes progress to the next year, enrollment is up to 950 students, with possibly 10 to 20 more before classes begin on Wednesday, Aug. 27. The number of students was a little higher than anticipated, according to Edwards.

“One of the challenges we face this year is to work with our students and our faculty and staff to try to maintain the culture of the school that has grown by 60 percent,” Edwards said.

With the addition of another grade, Edwards said the school is expanding many of its athletic, curricular and extracurricular programs. The varsity football team will debut this year and other sports will be moving up to the varsity level as well.

Likewise, the drama program will have the resources to put on two or three productions instead of the one it did last year. “As we grow, we’re trying to grow in such a way so that we add additional opportunities for all students in all different areas,” Edwards said.

The biggest change in the curriculum will be introduction of the high-level International Baccalaureate classes. Thirteen students have signed up for the IB diploma, which they will receive along with their regular diploma. There also are 386 signups for IB classes from students who will not be participating in the full program, according to Edwards.

For the past year, the students at Bedford High have had a rare privilege: they got to be freshmen and sophomores in a school without upperclassmen. That presented Edwards and other administrators with an opportunity to create a school culture without the hazing, bullying and rivalries that sometimes exist between older and younger students.

“We worked really hard to try to instill in the students that it’s not a matter of being freshmen and sophomores or juniors,” Edwards said. “It’s a matter of being Bulldogs. That’s what’s really important.”

Groups of advisories – similar to homeroom – last year were organized into eight “houses.” Each house had both freshmen and sophomores, which built unity between the classes. During Spirit Week and Winter Carnival, the houses competed with each other in various activities, such as seeing how many students could wear the theme costume or clothing of the day, according to Edwards.

“We’ve tried to create a culture that was very student-centered, where students felt that they were really important and that their teachers were there for them and we also tried to create a culture where students were very open and accepting of each other,” he said.

More students means more teachers as well. This fall there are 35 of them. Edwards said the experience of one year gave administrators a leg up in bringing the new teachers up to speed.

“The amount of information we were able to share with the new staff based on the experience that we’ve had over the past year ... what an advantage that is,” Edwards said.

Among the new staff is new Assistant Principal Gary Dempsey, who will be working alongside Assistant Principal Bob Jozokos. Dempsey will be responsible for supervision and evaluation of staff and also will handle student discipline and extracurricular activities. He has a background in special education and most recently was the assistant principal at West High School in Manchester. Prior to that, he spent a year at Parkside Junior High School and was involved in the opening of Nashua North High School.

Returning teachers made few changes to the competency system instituted last year, in which students must demonstrate competency in one of the core concepts or skills of a class in order to get credit, even if they overall have a passing grade.

“They made some minor changes to them, but the basic format and the basic structure is going to remain the same,” Edwards said.

Bedford High School now has about 75 teachers and other professional staff. “There was a difference between having 50 of them a year ago and now having 75,” Edward said.

It will cost $2.7 million to add the third grade to the high school, according to Mark Conrad, the chief financial officer for the school district. It will cost $7.4 million total to run the high school this year, not counting some things, such as transportation costs and staff benefits, which are accounted for in other areas of the school district budget.

Next year, the school will have to go through the process again when it adds the senior class.

“The staff has come eager and ready to go and we’re really excited about Year 2 of Bedford High School,” said Principal George Edwards.