Englewood Herald > News
Kindergarten enrollment a question mark
By Tom Munds
School district officials say it is very difficult to forecast the August kindergarten enrollment.
Peg LaPlante, assistant superintendent, said there are formulas to provide a means to estimate enrollment in the other grades but there is no way to know just how many parents will bring their children to Englewood schools since the district provides free all-day kindergarten for all students.
Englewood officials have sought to introduce free full-day kindergarten for all students for several years but the problem was the cost.
However, last year, money became available and the district introduced the full-day kindergarten program for all students.
The free full-day kindergarten for all students last school year did trigger a slight increase in enrollment, LaPlante said.
But she said the numbers could climb this year since probably more people know that Englewood is the only school district in the area offering free all-day kindergarten for all students.
“The out-of-district kindergarten enrollment hasn’t traditionally been a big number but we would like to know if parents bring their children to Englewood just for the free all-day kindergarten,” LaPlante said. “So, we are keeping track of last year’s kindergartners so we can see how many of them continue in Englewood schools.”
Last year’s kindergarten enrollment was 245 and, while this year’s kindergarten numbers are uncertain, LaPlante did say the distribution among the schools will be different.
That’s because at the end of school in May, the district began the work to combine five elementary schools into four.
The move was part of the effort to streamline district operations and was a logical step because of declining enrollment.
So, when school resumes in August, elementary students will be going to class at Bishop, Clayton, Cherrelyn and Charles Hay schools. Maddox, the fifth elementary school for years, has undergone transformation into the centralized location for the Englewood Early Childhood Education program. Previously, the program was located in the Lowell Annex Building and at Clayton Elementary School.
Moving the childhood education program to the Maddox building also was a key step as the district moved to close the Lowell building. The decision to close Lowell was made because the heating and cooling bills for the 1950s era building were a drain on the district budget and it would have cost an estimated $2 million to make the facility more energy efficient.
Peg LaPlante, assistant superintendent, said there are formulas to provide a means to estimate enrollment in the other grades but there is no way to know just how many parents will bring their children to Englewood schools since the district provides free all-day kindergarten for all students.
Englewood officials have sought to introduce free full-day kindergarten for all students for several years but the problem was the cost.
However, last year, money became available and the district introduced the full-day kindergarten program for all students.
The free full-day kindergarten for all students last school year did trigger a slight increase in enrollment, LaPlante said.
But she said the numbers could climb this year since probably more people know that Englewood is the only school district in the area offering free all-day kindergarten for all students.
“The out-of-district kindergarten enrollment hasn’t traditionally been a big number but we would like to know if parents bring their children to Englewood just for the free all-day kindergarten,” LaPlante said. “So, we are keeping track of last year’s kindergartners so we can see how many of them continue in Englewood schools.”
Last year’s kindergarten enrollment was 245 and, while this year’s kindergarten numbers are uncertain, LaPlante did say the distribution among the schools will be different.
That’s because at the end of school in May, the district began the work to combine five elementary schools into four.
The move was part of the effort to streamline district operations and was a logical step because of declining enrollment.
So, when school resumes in August, elementary students will be going to class at Bishop, Clayton, Cherrelyn and Charles Hay schools. Maddox, the fifth elementary school for years, has undergone transformation into the centralized location for the Englewood Early Childhood Education program. Previously, the program was located in the Lowell Annex Building and at Clayton Elementary School.
Moving the childhood education program to the Maddox building also was a key step as the district moved to close the Lowell building. The decision to close Lowell was made because the heating and cooling bills for the 1950s era building were a drain on the district budget and it would have cost an estimated $2 million to make the facility more energy efficient.
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