The Philomath School District is not seeing any huge surprises with enrollment numbers as classes get ready to start next week.
Superintendent of Schools Susan Halliday took a preliminary look at the numbers as results of student registration started to come in last week. Updating them Tuesday, so far the district has 21 students fewer when compared to Sept. 21, 2023.
Overall, the numbers this week show a total enrollment in the district of 1,653.
“There may be more new students than we realize that aren’t in the system,” Halliday said during an Aug. 22 Philomath School Board meeting. “We’re kind of waiting for those that either come in and register because they’ve been on vacation and also for those that have moved somewhere else” and have not yet asked for records to be released to their new school.
Halliday said that during registration week, she had been told that about two-thirds of Philomath Elementary families had attended the event, which means there could be a third of those students not yet enrolled.
“Now that registrations are completed, the middle school, the elementary school and Clemens will actually start calling the families that didn’t show up for registration that ended the year with us last year to be able to ask, ‘Are you coming back?’” Halliday said.
As of Tuesday, the district had the following enrollment figures to report:
- Blodgett Elementary showed 31 students enrolled — four in kindergarten, five in first grade, six in second grade, six in third graded and 10 in fourth grade. That compares to 35 at the school in September 2023.
- Clemens Primary School’s enrollment was at 168 with 75 in kindergarten and 93 in the first grade. That overall figure is down from 173 from last September.
- Philomath Elementary’s enrollment was sitting at 366 in total this week — 84 in second grade, 97 in third grade, 97 in fourth grade and 88 in fifth grade. Last year in September, the PES enrollment was at 363.
- Philomath Middle School’s enrollment this week was at 355 with 116 in sixth grade, 122 in seventh grade and 117 in eighth grade. That compares to 356 in September 2023.
- Philomath High School’s figures are at 446, which breaks down to 108 freshmen, 110 sophomores, 117 juniors and 111 seniors. In September 2023, high school enrollment was at 453.
- Philomath Academy’s number came in this week at 77 with eight freshmen, 13 sophomores, 23 juniors, 24 seniors and nine in grades K-8. Last year in September, the academy’s enrollment was 71.
- Kings Valley Charter School’s enrollment was sitting this week at 210 with numbers ranging from 14 to 20 in grades K-5, 17 to 20 in grades 6-8 and 48 in the high school — 13 freshmen, 15 sophomores, 12 juniors and eight seniors.
Talking about enrollment last week with board members, the superintendent briefly mentioned that there are two other school programs in town instructing kindergarten-level students — Philomath Montessori and Roots Primary School. In the case of the latter, which is located at The Refuge, the program is in its fourth year of preschool and is adding kindergarten for the first time.
In addition to the 1,653 enrolled students, there are three more who are classified as “transition” students — those beyond high school with disabilities that receive additional instruction to transition from school into employment or training programs.