Unofficial School Enrollment: 5,000

By Tanjua Damon

Enrollment numbers are not exactly at what the Newtown School District thought they would be for this year, but 5,000 students have been counted so far.

The Newtown Board of Education received unofficial enrollment figures Wednesday night during its business meeting, which had been rescheduled because of Tuesday’s events in New York City and Washington, DC. But the figures show that the district is educating 5,000 students from elementary school to high school.

Superintendent of Schools John R. Reed told the school board he was surprised that the numbers were not higher since they were projected to be about 100 students more districtwide. But the kindergarten numbers were not as high as anticipated.

“If we had a significant surprise it was the under enrollment of kindergartners,” Dr Reed said. “We are about 69 students short. Our variation in school numbers is in elementary.”

Speculation of why the numbers may be lower is that some parents may have found full day kindergarten programs for their children. History for the district shows that numbers increase in the first grade in Newtown. The sale of fewer houses may also be why numbers are lower.

“I think that accounts for it,” Dr Reed said. “I don’t think the sale of new homes has been as significant as before. Frankly if you’re going to have a slow down any place that’s a good place to start.”

The four elementary schools’ unofficial numbers show a total of 2,410 students: Hawley has 545, Head O’ Meadow’s numbers are at 551, Middle Gate is at 568, and Sandy Hook is housing 765 students.

The middle school and the high school are showing enrollment numbers at 2,590. The middle school has 1,216 and the high school is at 1,374.

“I think this gives us no reason to believe that we aren’t going to be in good stead for the next decade,” Dr Reed said. “It is a bit of a surprise.”

School board vice chairman Vincent Saviano pointed out that just because the numbers are down, it does not mean the district does not have a large student population. Classrooms are still full and some schools are over the numbers they were built for.

“Even thought we are low on kindergarten numbers, we are still large,” Mr Saviano said. “The growth is still there.”

Official numbers will be released in October.