Not many public schools have "For God and Country" engraved in stone above their entryways.

But since 1991, the Cambridgeport school has made its home in a building rented from the Blessed Sacrament Church.

As the school expanded throughout the decade, it outgrew that building.

Overcrowding has become so severe that teachers say it interferes with everyday learning and learning.

Teachers say they regularly wander the halls with their students looking for empty classrooms and often hold classes in the hallway.

"We're crowding a lot of children in this building," says Principal Lynn Stuart, who went on leave earlier this month to write a book on student achievement and the history of the Cambridgeport School.

The three floors of the Blessed Sacrament building are packed with 295 students, she says.

The issue of overcrowding at Cambridgeport is currently under discussion in a subcommittee of the Cambridge School Committee, but Stuart said she expects the committee to pass a resolution to the problem by early in 2001.