New Canaan School Enrollment Higher than Projected

Late summer enrollment at New Canaan schools has surged and exceeds projections, according to the Opening of School Report delivered at the Board of Education meeting Tuesday night.  Across the district there are 84 students more than expected for the 2010-2011 school year.

"As of Friday, enrollment is at 4,096 students and it hasn't stopped," David Swerdlick, assistant superintendent of schools told the Board. "This number is 42 more than there were three weeks ago. We had two enrollees today at South."

District projections are provided by the New England School Development Council (NESDEC), which anticipated an enrollment of 4012 students for the year.

Enrollment as of Sept. 3 is as follows:

Elementary Schools:   Current enrollment: 1526       NESDEC projection: 1512

Saxe Middle School:   Current enrollment:  1219       NESDEC projection:   1189

High School:                  Current enrollment: 1351         NESDEC projection:  1320

Swerdlick said NESDEC demographers  offered comparisons with five other districts in lower Fairfield County.  Like New Canaan, Westport has seen an increase in enrollment over projections.  Darien and Ridgefield are at projected enrollment numbers, and Wilton and Weston are both below projections by 30 to 45 students. "There's no discernible pattern," Swerdlick said.

The slow economy has played a role in the surge, Swerdlick added. "Families with young children are saying this is an opportunity to get into New Canaan.  You can rent, housing prices are less they they have been," he said.

Swerdlick says some of the students have come from independent schools. "This is an opportunity  to go to at least as good a school system,without having to pay $30,000 per student," he added.

Superintendent of Schools David Abbey thinks the enrollment increase is "a reflection of our success."  He cited the high school's recent number 3 ranking by Forbes magazine, in a "Best Schools for Your Home Value" report of communities with comparable median home prices.

"It's been a good year," he told Patch, "There was the Forbes report, and our high school library was named the best public school library." Abbey was referring to the 2010 National School Library Program of the Year Award, given by the American Library Association.

In his presentation, Swerdlick said NESDEC is looking at birth data as they make projections for future enrollment. "People are having fewer children," he said. 
"So we're going to see that show up as a result of economy."

Impact on class size has been minimal, Swerdlick said, with the most notable exception being physical education classes at the high school. "Most sections are within guidelines," he said. "But PE runs a lot.  Sometimes there are 28, 29 or 30 students  in a class."

With student enrollments continuing through Labor Day weekend, transportation director Roy Walder has been kept busy.

Board member Jenny McMahon commended his efforts, "We have to give Roy Walder a lot of credit," she said. "Last night we got three updates about bus routes changing because of enrollment."

Final enrollment figures are calculated on October 1 and will be reported to the board at its October meeting.