Schools
Elementary Schools Get 75 More Kids Than Expected [UPDATE]
Enrollment in the elementary schools is up 75 more than school officials had projected for the upcoming school year, which will mean the hiring of five more teachers, although school officials expect to do that within the current budget.
More families are moving into Darien with school-age children than Darien Public Schools officials had expected, so the school district will be hiring five more elementary school teachers this summer, rather than the expected equivalent of 2.5 teachers.
In a trend that may or may not have something to do with the higher numbers, Judith Pandolfo, assistant superintendent for elementary education, said an unusually high number of parents are bringing in rental leases as proof of residency when they enroll their children, rather than home sales contracts.
School officials had predicted enrollment in the elementary schools to drop a bit, by 13 students. The increase of 62 students is a difference of 75 over initial projections.
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Enrollment at Middlesex Middle School is up 15 students over projections, an amount which the current teaching staff should be able to handle, said Matt Byrnes, assistant superintendent for secondary education.
Current Middlesex enrollment is now 1,141. Darien High School, with 1,354 students now on the rolls, is currently six students short of its expected enrollment, he said.
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Tokeneke School (with 24 more students) and Ox Ridge School (with 23 more) showed the greatest increase in enrollment, accounting for more than two thirds of the total.
"At Ox Ridge and Tokeneke there were an unusual number [of enrollments] that were rentals," Pandolfo said. School officials said they didn't know why that might make a difference.
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The new students tend to be from families moving to the area from somewhat distant states, like Maryland, or Washington, DC, Schools Superintendent Stephen Falcone said.
As of July 1, 2,334 students were enrolled in Darien elementary schools, 62 more than in June. Falcone told the Board of Education at a meeting Tuesday that he expected to hire five elementary school teachers, adding two at Ox Ridge and one each at Holmes, Royle and Tokeneke schools.
The school district had been planning to hire a full-time teacher for special education, but that plan was dropped, and instead the district will hire an elementary school teacher, Falcone said.
The school district won't be increasing this fiscal year's education budget, regardless of the new students, Falcone said.
"We're going to have to hire five new teachers," he said. "We're going to do it within the context of this budget in 2012-13."
Update: Tables detailing increasing enrollment
Table 1: Increased Enrollment Per School
ELEMENTARY
SCHOOL
Enrollment
as of June
2012
Enrollment
Projected
(previously
expected) for
the 2012-13
School Year
Enrolled
Students
as of
July 31
Increase
from
June to
July 31
Sections
Projected
(previously
expected)
Actual
Sections
(as of
July 31)
Affected
Grades
Hindley 533 518 538 5 24 24 - Holmes 422 432 432 8 20 21 Grade 3 Ox Ridge 465 454 454 23 21 23Grades K & 4
Royle 411 413 413 3 20 21 Grade 1 Tokeneke 441 442 442 24 20 21 Grade 4 TOTAL 2,272 2,259 2,259 62 105 110 -Source for tables: Dr. Judith Pandolfo, assistant superintendent for elementary education
Tokeneke School Enrollment Increases
GRADE K 1 2 3 4 5 TOTAL Updated Sections 4 4 3 4 3 3 21 Expected Sections 4 4 3 3 3 3 20 Updated Enrollment 78 87 73 87 73 66 464 Expected Enrollment 82 79 72 75 71 64 443 Change in Enrollment -4 +8 +1 +12 +2 +2 +21
Ox Ridge Enrollment Increases
GRADE K 1 2 3 4 5 TOTAL Updated Sections 4 3 4 4 4 4 23 Expected Sections 3 3 4 4 3 4 21 Updated Enrollment 80 68 83 95 80 82 488 Expected Enrollment 66 65 77 92 73 81 454 Change in Enrollment +14 +3 +6 +3 +7 +1 +34
Holmes School Enrollment
Overall, enrollment is down, but it's up significantly in Grade 3.
GRADE K 1 2 3 4 5 TOTAL Updated Sections 4 4 3 4 3 3 21 Expected Sections 4 4 3 3 3 3 20 Updated Enrollment 77 79 66 79 62 67 430 Expected Enrollment 82 80 68 73 63 66 432 Change in Enrollment -5 -1 -2 +6 -1 +1 -2Editor's note: This article originally was published on Wednesday, Aug. 1. The time stamp was changed for layout purposes on the Home page of Darien Patch.
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